Soya Sauce Chicken

When time doesn't permit or I'm short of ingredients for a simple meal, I will have myself a plate of dark soya sauce chicken with plain rice. It is a relatively simple dish to prepare, which I must say only takes 20min of my time. I enjoy home cooked food, so this is a dish that I will occassionally prepare.



All I need are:

A
Few slices of ginger
4-6 chicken wings
4 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 1/2 cup of water
a clove of garlic

B

1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
dash of salt and pepper
2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp Hua Tiao wine


Pour A into pot and boil over small fire
Stir occassionally
Pour in B and mix well
Stir thoroughly to ensure chicken is well cooked
Cook for about 20min for all seasoning to reach the meat and dish is ready to serve

Tomato Sauce Pork Chop

Pork chop is one of my favourite dish since young. Especially those with the tomato sauce pork chop. My version here doesn't have fried potato slices. However, you may wish to add in fried sliced potato slices or strips together with the tomato gravy.

Here are the few simple steps to follow.
Have aside the following:

Meat
2 slices of pork chop, deboned
salt and pepper
2 tsp of sesame oil
2 tsp of Hua Tiao wine
1 egg
6 pieces of cream crackers/plain biscuits - crushed into fine crumbs

Sauce
5 tbsp of tomato sauce, mixed with 3 tbsp of sweet chili sauce and 3 tbsp water
1 tsp corn starch
2 small onions, cut
1 slice of canned pineapple, keeping 2 tbsp of syrup

Some oil for frying

After adding seasoning to meat, dip the meat into egg
After dipping into egg, place meat onto biscuit crumbs and ensure all parts of meat is covered


Heat oil in wok and start frying meat when oil is hot
Once meat is cooked, remove and drain away oil.
Cut into strips.
Prepare for sauce.

SAUCE PREPARATION
Mix the sauce together including pineapple syrup (except pineapple pieces)
Fry onion till lightly browned
Pour in the sauce and cook over heat
Add in pineapple pieces
After stirring for a few min, remove and pour over the meat
Dish is ready to serve

Pineapple pieces/cubes


Frying both sides to make sure meat is thoroughly cooked.



My version of pork chop is good to be eaten on its own too!

Enjoy the dish.

You may wish to add in lychee, cucumber or potato if desired.

One of my favourite cake

What's brown, yellow with swirls in it? No prize for guessing. It's Marble Cake.

Marble cake is one of my favourite cake. I've done a marble cake post before but this is an improved version with chocolate coating and strawberry decor.

We had a gathering over the National Day holiday to celebrate 4 of our friends' birthday. The folks came over to our place for a potluck session, so I thought why buy a birthday cake when I can bake one? I may not bake the most fantastic cake in the world (or Singapore), but I can attempt to do one :) Marble cake came to my mind because it is relatively simple and I guess palatable to most people.

  I like the swirls inside :)


Top it with a strawberry to make it more appetising. Chocolate + strawberry = pleasure!

Here's the recipe I got from Baking: A Commonsense Guide with slight modification.

1 tsp vanilla extract

185g unsalted butter, chopped
230g caster sugar (I had 210g)
3 eggs
280g self raising flour, sifted
185ml milk2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with 1.5 tbsp warm milk

1 Preheat oven to 200 deg C and lightly grease and line a round pan

2 Add vanilla extract to a bowl of butter and sugar, and use electric beaters to cream the mixture till light and fluffy.

3 Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition

4 Fold the flour into the mixture alternatively with the milk until combined

5 Divide the mixture into 2/3 and 1/3 (original from book is 1/2) into separate bowls

6 Combine the cocoa mixture into the smaller 1/3 portion and combine well

7 Spoon the 2 portions alternatively using a spoon into the pan

8 Use a metal skewer and cut through the mixture to create a marble effect (do not overdo it)

9 Bake for 50-60min and leave in the tin for 5 min before removing

To make the chocolate coating, double boil 125g of dark chocolate with 20g of butter

Stir well then cream the chocolate coating onto the cake when cake has cooled

Refrigerate it and it will be ready to serve after the coating has set in

Ngoh Hiang

This is one of my favourite dish but it's alot of hard work. You should dedicate your time to making this dish as there are several steps to follow. This version is from my mom who puts in alot of effort and I'm learning the ropes because it tastes so good that I have to try. I always tell myself there is no short cut to anything. I believe that if you want to truly enjoy good food, you have to be patient, and work towards perfecting it :D

Sorry folks, it's a sought after item in the house that I didn't manage to take close up and cross sectional shots :D

Ngoh Hiang is one of the Hokkein dish that is made up of mainly minced pork and water chestnut then wrapped in beancurd skin. Frying the skin gives the salty crispy texture.

Here is a guestimation of what I did for my family lunch for 6 today.

Some minced pork - roughly about 400g
Beancurd sheet - need to be wiped thoroughly as it contains alot of sodium
About 3-5 prawns - deshelled and deveined - chopped
3 Water chestnuts - washed, peeled and chopped
1/2 egg - beaten
Seasoning - sesame oil, pepper, salt, 5 spice powder
Oil for frying

1. Mix minced pork with chopped water chestnut and prawn

2. Add half an egg mixture to the meat (so the content becomes smooth and not crumbly). Mix.

3. Add seasoning and mix well

4. Cut the beancurd sheet into rectangle shapes and fill a tbsp of minced pork into the sheet

5. Line them in a row then row the sheet

6. Line the end of each roll with some egg so it sticks together well

7. Steam all the ngoh hiang till meat is cooked, and colour of beancurd sheet turns lighter

8. Dap dry before frying them in hot oil

9. Turn the sides to ensure they are thoroughly cooked

10. Serve when hot.

This goes well with sweet sauce or Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Our lunch on Sunday

The master of the house doesn't like messy and oily kitchen. He has spotted some ants around in the kitchen ever since we started cooking a month or two ago.. Ive always kept the kitchen really clean, at least to my standard and I'm quite a clean freak actually. But if you start cooking in the house, you can expect your friendly pests coming for a visit very soon.



Anyway here's our Sunday lunch with Broccoli and Mushrooms.

It is a relatively easy task to do and the result is quite satisfying for me

Stir Fry Broccoli with Mushrooms
Broccoli (one floret - to cut, wash and boiled in water for a short while)
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
Sliced Chinese dried mushroom (about 4-5)
(Chinese mushrooms must be washed and soaked for at least an hour to soften it. When soft, cut away stem and keep the water)
1-2 tbsp of oyster sauce mixed with 1 tsp of cornstarch and some water to dilute
Light soya sauce
Some cooking oil

1. Heat wok with a little oil
2. Fry garlic till semi brown
3. Fry mushroom for a while then add in boiled broccoli
4. Throw in the mushroom water then oyster sauce mix
5. Cover wok and let the dish simmer for a few min
6. Add salt and pepper and some soya sauce if required. (I add some sesame oil as well)
7. Serve.

About Broccoli

Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetable. I used to hate broccoli alot because of its shape, texture and colour. It took me some 30 years to get over it and finally eat it because of its numerous health benefits. For a start, broccoli has numerous anti cancer, anti viral and anti bacterial properties, and is high Vitamin C and dietary fibre. It also contains beta carotene like carrots (seen from its rich colour) and reduces the risk of prostate cancer. However boiling it for too long reduces the benefits significantly. If possible, do not cook it for too long.

Enjoy!

My other pictures - totally unrelated :)

Hi folks.. here are some of my other pre wedding and wedding shots :)

Totally not related to my blog, but just want to share before I start on my culinary posts.

Avalanche of events

Sorry folks, I have been lagging in my posts and neglecting my blog. This is not usual cos I just got married in May! Here's a sneak preview of my pre wedding shoot to those who still log into my blog :)

The shoot was taken in Perth in Sept last year, which explains for my very delayed telecast of my bakes. Lots of planning and effort went to choosing the studio and preparing the necessary logistics for the Perth shoot. We had to coordinate with our parents who went along with us as well. It was fun but tiring. The weather was cool and sometimes very chilly depending on where we went. It was a fun experience I must say. It was all worth it and I love most of the photos.

Then after that, with actual day wedding and a house to tackle, it is no joke that I dont even have time to have a decent sleep. Let alone my blog. The house reno was a massive job, even more massive than the wedding prep. The actual day wedding activities went quite smoothly and the dinner was the smoothest and fastest I've ever seen!

And right after the wedding was our honeymoon. It was like a avanlanche of events that took place. I can't keep the sense of balance.. I hardly had the time to breathe and before I knew it, I was back at work and plouging through my 3 weeks' due of work.

In my new matrimonial home, I have myself a built-in TECNO oven which I've not fully explored, a microwave oven an a refrigerator that has an ice water dispenser. I love my kitchen - it's the best part of my house, at least to me. Alot of effort and time were spent again on kitchen and home appliances. Doing research is no joke esp when you have a wedding in place. Every weekend was spend in Harvey Norman, furniture shops and Mustafa. We had to suss for the best deals, and realised sometimes they were not the best. We had to coordinate with our ID guys very closely and it was a nightmare to do a major house reno when we were having a wedding soon and we both hold full time jobs. Anyway my kitchen is themed in white, with orange glass panel which I can scribble on for my last min grocery shopping. As it is mainly white, it takes abit more effort to do the cleaning esp with my strands of hair all over the place. It can get quite frustrating at times, when the winds so strong in the East.

I will try to snap more photos, along with my new bakes and recipes in my next update.
Stay tuned!

Thai Olive Fried Rice

I had attempted a Thai Olive Fried Rice before but this one is cooked using organic brown rice. I dont usually include brown rice in my diet but since I had a packet of organic brown rice sitting in the kitchen, I took it one day to try...

Here's the stuff required for a simple and good yummy meal. I have not indicated the quantity as it was only for one person's serving. However it can be largey based on guesstimation:

Dried shrimps - chopped (around 2 tbsp)
Mince chicken
Olive (Chinese olives from the supermarkets)
Egg (1)
Shrimps - about 4-5 small to medium size
Organic brown rice (about 1 cup for 1-2 persons to share) - cooked and set aside
Chopped garlic
Fish sauce and pepper

Boil shrimps till they turn red. Drain when cooked and put in cold water, then drain again
Fry the garlic and dried shrimps in olive oil
Add in the mince chicken and fry till thoroughly cooked. Set aside in the wok
Fry egg till thoroughly broken/cooked
Fry the dried shrimps, rice and boiled shrimps. Add in the bottled olive (pitted)
Add in (about 1 - 1.5 tbsp) fish sauce and pepper. Mix and fry thoroughly
Drizzle with pork floss if desired



enjoy.

I like Aglio Olio spaghetti but my version is somewhat quite substandard :)

One fine Saturday morning, I had the craving for Aglio Olio. I made a trip to the supermarket and got myself Dory Fish, chicken sausages and some mushrooms. To me, cooking spaghetti is relatively easy (in my own standards of course).

Boil the spaghetti first, with a pinch of salt in the pot. Boil it for more than 5min to get the real al dente texture, from my experience. Leave it a little longer to get it a bit softer, but not too overcooked. Once boiled and cooked, drain it out with a sieve and leave aside with olive oil so they do not clump together.

Then I simply season the fish with salt and some herbs and seasoning before frying. Then, I fried the sausages till thoroughly cooked/brown with olive oil.

Set aside these and start frying the garlic and mushrooms. Add in the sausages and pasta and toss it with olive oil. Turn off the fire and toss in the dory fish with some chilli flakes and shredded parsley.






Not well taken but the taste was surprisingly good!

Beancurd Barley with Ginko Nut Dessert

I have always liked to take Chinese dessert as they are often easier to prepare compared to Western ones. They require lesser ingredients and the ingredients used are often easier to find. It only takes about 30 min to an hr to prepare one simple yet delicious dessert.

This Beancurd Barley with Ginko Nut dessert is sweet and healthy!

All you need:

5-6 cups of water
1/2 cup barley seeds (approximate)
1 beancurd sheet (soaked in water till soft - about A4 size)
3 1/2 tbsp rock sugar (depending on how sweet you want)
1 egg white

1. Boil barley in water till soft.
2. Add in gingko nuts and boil for another 20min.
3. Add in beancurd sheet and let it break while cooking. Continue stirring.
4. Add in sugar. Stir well.
5. Heat over slow fire for about 20-30min.
6. Add egg white and stir evenly.
7. Ready to serve.

Coffee Cake

This is one of my favourite cake. It is easy to bake and the aroma of the coffee just brings you to a totally different realm! I am a non-coffee drinker, but this coffee cake is simply too delicious to be missed. It has a rich butter flavour but the coffee aroma is of the right amount that is not too overpowering nor bland. You should try it. Good with a cup of tea in the afternoon....

195g softened butter
125g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp coffee (I use 3 in 1 instant coffee powder)
155g self raising flour, sifted
100ml milk

Optional
To Make Coffee Topping: 125g icing sugar

Steps
Pre heat oven to 150deg C
Beat 185g of butter and brown sugar with electric beater till light and creamy
Add eggs a little at a time and mix well
Add in 4 tsp of coffee
Fold in flour and salt, alternating with milk into creamed mixture
Spoon evenly into trays and bake for 30min

Optional:

To make coffee topping, combine the remaining butter and coffee, with the icing sugar and 1 1.5 tbsp boiling water in a small bowl
Spread a little icing over until evenly covered

As you can see, I opted for sprinkling of cocoa powder and a little icing sugar instead :)

Adapted from Cakes & Slices