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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
, 4:29 PM
simple to make potatoes, onion & pork gratin
JUNE 17, 09
RECIPE
Serves: 2Time: 35min prep, 25min bake
Ingredients
Potatoes, 3 regular sized
Butter, 3 tbsp
Flour, 3 tbsp
Milk, 1 1/2 cups
Cheese, 100g grated (or cut into tiny pieces suffices too)
Onion, 1/2 large
Ground pork (or etc meat), 100g
Bread crumbs/tempura coating
Salt & pepper
1. Boil potatoes till soft & dice
2. Melt butter in pan, stir in flour*, add in milk, then cheese & stir till melted. Add salt & pepper
3. Layer a baking tray with half of the potatoes, then the pork, then the onion, then top with the rest of the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt & pepper
4. Cover entirely with the cheese/milk mixture and then sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs
5. Bake covered for 15min & uncovered for 10min
*it might be a better idea to dissolve the flour in milk first or in room-temp-ish melted butter as what happened to me was the flour started clumping
(modified from original recipe here)
The taste was absolutely delicious (except for overconcentration of pepper/salt at some parts lol) but the only problem was that the gratin didnt quite solidify so it was just like eating creamy sauce lol. I'll reduce the milk next time (or maybe up the cheese dosage. Also since a lot of the flour clumped and I had to dispose of those maybe there was a lot less flour in the mixture than ought to have been). I initially was only going to use 1 cup but then I thought the cheese was too strong so I upped the flour.
Other than that it was a pretty yummy and successful culinary experiment. I won't repeat it too often though because milk + cheese + potatoes = crazy calories.
VERDICT: 8/10
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, June 6, 2009
, 10:36 AM
a quick and delicious meal
JUNE 2, 09
RECIPE (+2photos)
Serves: 20 meatballsPrep time: 15 min to prepare, 25 min to bake
Ingredients
Ground pork/beef*, 1 lb
Breadcrumbs**, 1/2 tsp
Minced garlic, 1 tsp
Salt, 3/4 tsp
Soy sauce, 1 tsp
Tonkatsu sauce***, 1 tsp
Finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup
Parsley, 2 tbsp
Egg, 1 (slightly beaten)
*Original called for ground beef, but its cheaper to buy a pork/beef mix
**I didnt have breadcrumbs so I used the crunchy things used to coat for tempura, lol
***I didnt have the Worcestershire sauce called for in the original, but tonkatsu sauce is supposed to be similar
1. Preheat oven to 190C/385F
2. Mix all ingredients well
3. Shape into 1" balls
4. Bake for 15 min wrapped in tin foil, then another 8 min unwrapped
Sauce
Tomato paste
Garlic
Onion
Basil
Sugar
Salt
I don't know the exact proportion because the tomato juice I bought already had garlic and onion so I was supposed to be able to use it straight. I added a ton of basil though, because that's always good with tomato sauce
(modified from original recipe in my ex-boss' Trinidad & Tobago cookbook)
pre-baked
baked, pre-saucetastes good this way too!
Why have I never made meatballs before? It has to be one of the easiest recipes ever. It's just like, mix everything together, ball it up and stick in the oven (or deepfry, but I like to stay away from deepfrying). I got this recipe from my ex-boss' Trinidad cookbook. It's been so long since I used a recipe from there!
Anyway the meatballs were absolutely smashing, with and without the sauce. So salty and juicy and flavourful...mmm. Everyone who tried it said it tasted really good. But it probably doesnt have anything to do with me. Meatballs just always taste good. Like sausages. Heh.
I'm gonna try to make meatballs again but vary the spices I put inside. Maybe basil instead of parsley or some Indian spices...
VERDICT: 9/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 12:44 AM
bear-shaped onigiri (chicken-rice flavoured!), mini-wieners, tamago-yaki
heart-shaped onigiri (chicken-rice flavoured!), mini-cucumbers
mini-cucumbers + mini-tomatoes, mini-strawberries
you can actually see the mini-wieners and (sort-of) the shape of the bear onigiri
these mini-strawberries were seriously delicious
So I made bento on monday (and wednesday, but it looked pretty much the same). I feel so Japanesey. Yay! ^o^
It was kinda a cop-out though. Besides the tamago-yaki & onigiri (squishing the rice into cookie moulds was much more time-consuming that I thought...the rice kept falling apart if I didn't really squish it well) everything else I just bought from the supermarket and re-arranged nicely lol.
Bentos are pretty time-consuming and expensive to make though, because you need a lot of a little bit of everything. :\ Prettyness though!
Labels: COOKING
@ , 12:20 AM
Sweet & fishy, Japan's answer to scrambled eggs
JUNE 1, 09
RECIPE
Serves: 2-4Ingredients
Eggs, 4
Dashi (fish stock), 1 tbsp
Sugar, 1 tbsp
Soy sauce, 1/2 tsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp
1. Beat all ingredients together
2. Oil a heated pan (low heat) well and pour 1/3 of the egg mixture till it covers the whole pan
3. When the underneath bubbles and sets a little start rolling the egg into itself, away from you
4. When the egg has been rolled up completely, move the egg towards you, oil the pan again and pour another 1/3
5. Repeat step 3, then do the same thing for the last 1/3 egg mixture
6. Remove from pan and cut into nice rectangles!
(modified from original recipe here)
These don't really taste like the tamago (egg) sushi I buy at sushi restaurants as they're sweeter and fishier (probably I should reduce the dashi & sugar), but bloody hell they're so delicious. Both times I made this for bento (lunch box) I ended up devouring like 70% of it and leaving only 30% for the actual bento, lol.
Making tamago-yaki sounds hard at first because of the whole rolling the egg thingy, but its actually easy once you get the hang of it. I recommend using two spatulas, one to hold the egg down and the other to roll. Another thing to note is to keep the heat low and oil the pan well to prevent the egg from getting burnt. It's hard though, because then I had to deal with undercooked eggs which were a little runny inside...
I'm gonna try making this again while varying the amount of ingredients. (: The first time I had mirin too, but I didn't find it made a lot of difference so I don't think I'll be including it anymore...
VERDICT: 9/10
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, May 23, 2009
, 3:50 PM
lots of coconut milk in this easy and palatable dish
MAY 23, 09
RECIPE
Serves:Ingredients
Chicken breasts: 300g (skinless and boneless)
Frying Oil: 3 tbsp
Onion: 1/2 (large)
Garlic: 1 clove
Coconut milk: 1 cup
Yogurt: 1/4 cup
Fresh ginger: 1/2 tbsp (grated)
Curry powder: 10 tsp
Salt: 3/4 tsp
Pepper: 1/8 tsp
Water: 3tbsp
1. Peel and chop the onion into whatever portions you feel like eating I guess lol. Dice the garlic and grate the ginger.
2. Add 2tbsp of oil to a pan and when hot, saute half the onion till tender
3. Add the chicken, already cut into 1" bite-sized pieces. Saute till lightly browned then remove the chicken
4. Add the remaining 1tbsp of oil and sautee the garlic and rest of the onion till tender, then drain the oil.
5. Add the yoghurt, coconut milk, salt, pepper, curry powder, water and grated ginger and bring to a simmer.
6. Add the chicken and let it simmer for about 10min
7. Serve with rice*
*Rice:
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
2 cups (basmatic) rice
Add to rice cooker and cook!
(modified from original recipe here)
I messed around quite freely with the recipe. For one thing, I halfed the amount of yoghurt while doubling the coconut milk (and added a little water for good measure), because I didnt like the taste of the yoghurt & also there wasn't enough sauce. I didn't realise how delicious coconut milk actually makes curry! Mmm. I also added way more curry powder than in the original recipe in order to change the curry from its sickly yellow colour to something more palatable...no luck there. Its the ginger making it so yellow I guess. The taste is not too bad. Not awesome Indian curry spicy but spicy enough to pass off as Indian curry I guess. Ha. What I like about the dish is that the ingredients are simple and easy to find, unlike most of the (authentic I guess lol) curry recipes I've seen.
The coconut milk rice was random messing around on my part. It needs more coconut milk + spices, because other than the yellow colour and faint hint of coconut milk (not bad) it pretty much just tasted like plain ol' basmati rice.
VERDICT: 6/10
Labels: COOKING
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
, 3:01 PM
deep-fried crispy chicken cutlet
MAY 13, 09
RECIPE
Serves: 2Ingredients
Chicken, 1 breast
Egg, 1
Panko/bread crumbs, 1/2 cup
Salt & pepper
1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste
2. Sprinkle flour on chicken
3. Dip chicken in egg then roll on bread crumbs till fully covered
4. (Deep)fry in hot oil till golden-brown
(modified from original recipe here)
This is a super-easy recipe but I think I definitely failed here lol. First of all I haven't eaten tonkatsu in a long time (not such a big fan) that I don't quite remember what it tastes like anymore...except I do believe it was better than this. o_0 Second, because I hate deepfrying as usual I tried to just stirfry, and that never really works quite as well... Third, the chicken breast was kinda thick and I was lazy to cut it thinner... Fourth, the chicken had already been boiled before (my まかない food from work) so I don't know if that made any difference... probably it did because boiled chicken vs deep-fried chicken taste v different.
Whatever it was, it was really rather tasteless without the tonkatsu sauce and the wet crust that slipped right off the chicken when I tried to cut it into slices didn't add all that much flavour. It also did NOT help I ate it with basmati rice (finishing up my leftovers...), which doesnt exactly complement tonkatsu flavour...
I don't think I'm gonna try tonkatsu again though. I really don't like to deep-fry stuff. But for people who like it you should definitely try this recipe (well not mine but like google a good one) because it is supposed to be very easy. The original calls for pork but any meat works too I think...
VERDICT: 4/10
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
, 12:54 AM
If yummy but wet fried rice is your thing...
JULY 24, 09
I used the same recipe here) except I pretty much doubled everything, replaced mixed veges with my own diced carrots and lettuce (this was a bad idea - the lettuce just got soggy and gross-looking) and added the soy sauce liberally.
The result was a somewhat soggy fried rice that still tasted pretty good (thanks to the ham, lots of salt and soy sauce - really, to me the ham makes the fried rice) but really pales in comparison to the ones my dad/mum/ex-maid/everyone else but me makes. I really gotta learn from the pros...
Also, I really need to learn to work on how I cook the egg. Cooking the egg seperately and then cutting it and adding it to the fried rice turns out lovely, but when I use the pour the egg in the centre of the rice and start mixing when its solidified a little, the egg always just sticks to the rice and the taste of the egg becomes very weak.
VERDICT: 5.5/10
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
, 6:25 PM
A random mishmash of Indian spices and chicken
RECIPE
Serves: 1Ingredients
Chicken, 100g
Potato, 1 small
Water, 600ml
Consomme block, 1
Garlic, 3 cloves diced
Garam masala, 3tsp
Coriander, 3tsp
Turmeric, 1tsp
Paprika, 1tsp
Cardamon, 1tsp
Pepper, 1tsp
Salt, 1tsp
Butter, 1/4 cup
Ginger garlic paste, 1tbsp
Basmatic rice, 1cup
1. Cook the rice as per normal (rice cooker for me)
2. Boil the water with consomme block
3. Dice the garlic, add it in
4. Add all spices, paste, butter and stir
5. Cut the chicken into edible portions and add it in
6. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until rice is cooked
The Chou Tekitou Curry, also translated into Singlish as the Anyhow Mix Curry, is a new culinary creation born of a potent mix of myriad spices horded over the months with the intention of cooking Indian curry that never materialised, utter laziness and the need to finish up several perishable ingredients.
I bought chicken cheap from the supermarket yesterday and had leftover butter from failed baking, as well as ginger garlic paste my friend from Pakistan gave me, so I figured maybe it was time to finally try making that Indian curry I'd planned to do for so long. However, while googling recipes I realised I was missing ingredients here and there (like yoghurt, tomatoes, etc) so I figured I'd just use whatever Indian spices I had in my cupboard and see what happened.
The result was pretty good! I have no idea what kind of curry it tasted like but it was definitely curry-like, if extremely watery because I used up all my flour on my failed baking and didn't have anything else to thicken the curry with (I could have mashed potatoes, but that would have taken more effort than I was willing to expend). Boiling the chicken for about an hour also made the chicken deliciously tender and soaked through with yummy spices.
And mmmm, eating it with basmati rice made it seem so much more authentic! <3
VERDICT: 7/10
Labels: COOKING
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
, 1:12 AM
Wtf is chicken rice so hard to make??
JAN 6, 09
RECIPE
Serves: 1Ingredients
Rice, 1 cup
Garlic, 3 cloves
Chicken, 100g-ish
Salt, 1tsp
1. Boil water and add the garlic, salt and chicken. Turn the heat down to a simmer and leave the chicken to boil for about 20min
2. Remove the chicken, add the chicken fat, boil that for a bit then cook rice in the chicken broth (either in the same pot or transferring to a rice cooker)
(drastically modified and simplified from original recipe here)
Wow did I manage to simplify all that into a 2 step recipe!? I'm clearly much too lazy. >.> And the consequences show. The chicken broth itself tasted amazing and exactly like the soup that comes with the chicken rice, but I think in itself it's flavour is not thick enough to make the rice truly fragrant. The rice was really rather bland. :( However, it tasted better when eaten together with the chicken. Minako, who has never eaten chicken rice before, liked it. Still, this is not a success. I'll try again!
At least this is a major improvement from the last time when I super-shortcutted (it would have been a one-step recipe lol) and dumped everything into the rice cooker. The result was something like bland chicken porridge lol. I think I overdosed on the water there ha.
VERDICT: 5/10
Labels: COOKING
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Monday, December 29, 2008
, 7:29 PM
Nov 28, 08
Soba house in Shirakawa-shi, Fukushima-ku
We made soba noodles on the first day of the Shirakawa trip. :D If you asked me to replicate this right now I would have no idea how to do it, nor would I have all the utensils/ingredients required, so all I can share with you are the memories and this internet link on how to make soba. It's almost exactly the same as what we did!
The beginning steps! Buckwheat flour & the big bowl for mixing it all. :]
The soba master teaches us how to flatten out the dough into a nice rectangular shape. (I skipped a lot of steps in between; this is already near the end ha)
He then demonstrates how to cut the soba noodles into well, soba noodle strips.
The finished product! Proudly presented by Tash, Caroline and I. Please note the scary soba knife next to the soba noodles, which we all agree ought to feature more in horror movies.
The truly finished product! With delicious tempura cooked by the ladies there; the usual prawn, sweet potato, mix of vegetables and carrots with yuzu, a citrus fruit Japanese like to put in their food for its flavour...which I don't like, sadly. Also, our soba noodles were a little tough. :( I have no idea how they make them softer. It must be something to do with the soba-making process I am unaware of...
Labels: COOKING
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Monday, December 15, 2008
, 8:35 PM
Everyone's favourite Singaporean-style rice vermicelli
DEC 13, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 2Ingredients
Beehoon, 50g
Egg, 1
Carrots, 1
Cabbage/lettuce, 2 leaves
Bean sprouts
Soy sauce, abt 5 tbsp?
Salt
Pepper
Oil
1. Reconstitute beehoon in simmering water. If you wish add 1 tbsp oil, sugar and soy sauce (I don't know if it makes much dif...)
(do the following steps while it's in the pot)
2. Cut the carrots and cabbage/lettuce into strips
3. Beat the egg with salt and pepper, fry it into a thin omelette and cut into strips
4. Dice the garlic and fry in oil (don't stinge on the oil)
5. Add all ingredients except the beehoon and fry till well mixed
6. Drain the beehoon and add into the pan along with as much soy sauce as you wish
7. Toss until well mixed and the beehoon is not longer soggy
(modified from original recipe here and here)
I can't believe I've never made beehoon in my life when it's the easiest thing to make. I think it's even easier than fried rice, because cooking rice takes so much longer than reconstituting noodles. Beehoon, common in Singapore and Malaysia, is some kind of South-East Asian dialect term for rice vermicelli tossed with soy sauce and whatever vegetables/meat you please. For more info, check here. There are 2 kinds of beehoon in Singapore though. Economic beehoon which you buy at hawker centres and are dark brown, extremely oily, and extremely tasty, and the kind that most people make at home which is much lighter in taste and colour, but still very yummy.
To make your beehoon tasty, you have to be veeeery liberal about the amount of soy sauce you use. However, I still think my beehoon doesn't taste quite right. I'm not sure if it's because Japanese soy sauce is slightly different from the light and dark soy sauce we use in Singapore...as for the rest of the recipe, in Singlish, I pretty much anyhow hamtum one. In Japanese, 適当に作った。In English, I kinda randomly hazed my way through the recipe. Soo, if you want just use this recipe for a basic guide, and change it as and how you wish! Beehoon is pretty much a no-fail recipe. :D
VERDICT: 7/10
Labels: COOKING
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
, 6:13 PM
Easy to make Osaka-style savoury pancakes topped with a rich sweet-sour sauce and mmmayo...
Nov 11, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 2-3 peoplePrep time: 0.5hr
Ingredients
Flour, 2 cups
Dashi stock/water, 1 1/4 cups*
Eggs, 2
Cabbage, 1/4 whole chopped
Beni shouga, 2-3tbsp
(whatever other fillings you want)
Topping
Aonori*
Katsuobushi
Okonomiyaki sauce
Mayonnaise
*I don't really find much difference between using dashi or water, especially because the okonomiyaki sauce/mayo has such a strong taste
1. Mix all the ingredients together
2. Spoon a pancake-sized amount onto a lightly greased pan, flatten it so it's about 1cm thick and fry for about 4min or until the bottom is slightly brown
3. Flip and fry for another 4min
4. Remove, spread okonomiyaki sauce, sprinkle katsuobushi then aonori generously, and finally drizzle the mayo on
(it might cook more evenly if you put a lid on the pan while frying)
(modified from original recipe here and here)
the traditional style design, done by yours truly :]
the 'star' turned out looking more like a flower
andrew's creation (as expected)
a celebration of Pocky (Pepero) Day in Korea and Singles Day in China
the heart says 'tomo' which means friends
designed by audrey!
Okonomiyaki loosely means 'fried as how you like it' and is an easy and delicious recipe that really ought to be more well known outside of Japan. Osaka-style okonomiyaki, which is what I've been making (there's also Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki) counts as its main ingredients flour, egg, water and cabbage and is usually topped with aonori (powdery green seaweed), katsuobushi (fish scale flakes), okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. Everything else (including the toppings, really, though I assure you you don't want to leave out the okonomiyaki sauce), from pork to shrimp to cheese to other vegetables, is added 'as how you like it'. Whence comes the name!
Anyway, my second attempt at home-made okonomiyaki was a huge success! Unlike the first time when it tasted great but the texture was too rubbery, I used a different recipe this time and the texture turned out great! The only problem was that Andrew (cooking partner for the night) and I made the pancake too thick for a few batches so the inside was a little soft and undercooked.
I think I'm now ready to host an okonomiyaki party! Yay!
VERDICT: 7.5/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 2:01 PM
Thick, sweet Japanese curry with a spicy zing
Nov 12, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 3-4 peopleTime: 1.5hrs
Ingredients
Onions, 1.5 cut into strips
Garlic, 3 cloves diced
Ginger, 1 tsp grated/diced
Potatoes, 2 chopped
Carrots, 2 chopped
Water, 3 cups
Garam masala, 1.5tbsp
Star anise, 1
Consomme, 1 cube
Roux
Curry powder, 1 tbsp
Flour, 3 tbsp
Butter, 1.5 tbsp
*but really, you can adjust the quantity of/add vegetables (and meat) to your liking
1. Grease bottom of (heavy) pot and cook the onions on low till they become soft and transparent (what worked for me was cooking this first and then preparing all the other vegetables/roux in between stirring the onions to prevent them from burning)
2. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes more
3. Add the water, consomme, vegetables, stir and allow it to simmer for about 20min (lid on)
4. Dry roast the garam masala and stir it into the mixture, simmering for another 10min or so (lid on)
5. Mix together the curry roux and stir into the mixture
6. Turn up the heat and let the curry simmer with the lid off till it reaches the consistency you're looking for
All cooking times are estimates; best is to experiment and work out for yourself when your curry is ready for the next stage of the recipe
(modified from original recipe here and my curry roux mix recipe lol)
I consider this a great success considering its my first time making curry rice and I tried to follow a pretty complicated recipe (JustHungry really knows their stuff). My 3 nitpicks: colour is somewhat sickly (I prefer it a darker brown), I managed to make the curry pretty thick but I prefer an even thicker texture, and it was a little too spicy. Think I overdosed on the garam masala a bit.
In the future I think I'll experiment with the amount of curry powder and garam masala to see if I can make it more delicious. Also I suppose if I added more flour and cooked it longer I would get a thicker consistency...but this time I was a little tired after 1.5hrs of cooking this. >< I think I'll try once without star anise too. I don't quite like the strange sweetness of star anise...
I really need to work on my cooking speed too. Well , this is probably also going to last me the next 3 meals with my small appetite so it's not too bad...but I could easily make some sham sukiyai and that would have taken only half an hour...
VERDICT: 6.5/10
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, November 1, 2008
, 1:16 PM
Overdosing on soy sauce is always a bad idea
I have still not successfully recreated Jack's Paprika Chicken. I don't quite remember how I failed the last time, but this time I have learnt one very important lesson: too much soy sauce is a very bad idea. I had to stop eating after 5 slices of chicken because my tongue was actually starting to burn mildly. I think I'm going to try and sandwich the leftovers in bread and see if that helps to diffuse some of the soy sauce...
So I decided not to follow Jack's recipe and strike out on my own (always a bad idea)> I marinated bite-sized chicken pieces in paprika (maybe 2 tbsp) and then simmered it in a pan-ful of soy sauce. Ooooh such a bad idea. I really AM quite horrible at cooking lol. At least the kitchen smelt wonderful from all that paprika though. ^^;
P.S. Mayo also helps to diffuse the saltiness somewhat.
VERDICT: 3/10
Labels: COOKING
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Sunday, October 12, 2008
, 12:45 PM
Vegetable fried rice wrapped in a tasty ketchup-drizzled omelette
OCT 12, 08
RECIPE(+1photo)
Serves: 2 peopleIngredients
Rice cooked, 1 cup
Sweet corn, 100g(can)
Onion diced, 1/4
Small carrot duced, 1 (3/4 of normal sized carrot?)
Lettuce shredded, 1 leaf
Ketchup, 2-3 tbsp
Eggs, 4
Sugar, 1/2 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil
1. Beat eggs, sugar, salt and pepper (I used about 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper)
2. Oil the pan (2 tbsp?) and stirfry on high the sweet corn, onion, carrot and lettuce for about 2 min
3. Add the rice and mix for another 1 min
4. Add 2-3 tbsp of ketchup (or to taste) and make sure it's thoroughly mixed in
5. Empty the fried rice out
6. Re-oil the pan and with the heat on low, pour half the egg mixture in
7. When the bottom is solidifying but the center is still liquid (1min?) scoop rice onto one half side of the omelette
8. Flip the other side of the omelette onto the rice and press down until it stays in that shape. Leave for about 1 min.
9. Flip the omelette over (you might need the help of another spatula to prevent the omelette from falling apart) and leave for another 1 min before removing from the pan.
10. Repeat with the other half of the egg mixture. Don't forget to drizzle ketchup on the finished product!
*to prevent the omelette from falling apart don't put too much rice on. Of course then the omu-rice turns out looking a little sorry and flat...
(with inspiration from here and here)
Before digging in
Wowww I haven't updated this blog in exactly one month! And that's about how long I've also gone without cooking/baking anything. I don't feel as much motivation in Japan because I don't have a lot of ingredients to start with (unlike the Toronto summer when people gave me all their leftover stuff) and cooking your own food isn't all that much cheaper than eating out in Japan! (CAD10/SGD15 for 2kg of rice!?) Also, there is no oven in my dorm! Sacrilege, indeed. I'm going to try and see if their strange tiny toaster oven things can do decent baking, but it definitely does not encourage me to start...not to mention I have problems buying ingredients because I don't know what they're called in japanese.
So anyway, the omu-rice. Made for lunch today. I don't even really remember what omu-rice tastes like as I haven't eaten it for a year so I don't know if what I made was close to the original taste. It was, however, pretty good. I don't like it as much as for example, my sham sukiyaki, but it was more tasty than the enoki and tofu dish I made a few nights ago (wow look at how healthy I've become).
I've finally learned that the trick to tasty food is not to scrimp on the spices and additives. Although it pained me to see all the salt (argh, so unhealthy!) I dumped in the egg, for the first time since the beginning of summer I think I actually produced a really tasty omelette. Don't scrimp on drizzling the ketchup on top too, it really adds to the taste. You may not want to put too much ketchup in the rice itself because it might make it soggy, though that wasn't a problem for me because my rice was many days old and extremely dry, which is odd for Japanese rice.
The only reason my omu-rice does not have any meat in it is because vegetables are already so expensive in Japan, I don't feel like putting more pressure on my wallet by getting meat. I haven't bought meat once since I got here! And all 3 dishes I've cooked so far were vegetarian. No worries of me turning vegetarian though, there's no lack of meat on the menu in Japanese restaurants.
VERDICT: 6.5/10
Labels: COOKING
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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
, 2:38 AM
Tasty tuna snack
AUGUST 17, 08
RECIPE
Serves: at least 15 1.5" flattened ballsIngredients
Tuna, 6oz (drained)
Egg, 1 (beaten)
Breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup
Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp*
Onion, 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Mayonnaise, 2 tbsp
Oil for frying
*substituted with this very salty dark brown Japanese sauce in my fridge (forgot the name again)
1. Flake tuna, then stir in all ingredients
2. Shape into balls and flatten (or whatever shape you will, really)
3. Fry until golden brown (approx 1-2min with flipping)
4. Drain on paper towels
(modified from my boss' Trini cookbook)
Once I popped one in my mouth it was very hard for me not to devour the rest. This is one of those great savoury snacks that you can keep popping because they taste so good without becoming overwhelming and never fill you up. I think my use of President Choice's (brand) Italian breadcrumbs (which I initially thought would mar the taste - I bought it by accident thinking it was plain breadcrumbs) and the Japanese sauce (which is probably similar to Worcestershire sauce; the Japanese are really into that sauce) helped make it taste even better.
This snack is supposed to be deepfried, but you probably know by now my aversion to deep-frying, so I instead of making round balls that are hard to fry evenly I flattened it and flipped it multiple times. However, as I'm loathe to use oil I did have problems with frying it evenly; the centre tended to get spots of dark brown (refer to pic).
VERDICT: 8/10
Labels: COOKING
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008
, 12:50 AM
Maybe you'll like this if your idea of butter chicken is sweet, liquid stew with only the tiniest hint of Indian spices...
AUGUST 10, 08
(look at that soup! er, what butter chicken?)
RECIPE
Serves: 2Time: 1/2hr prep, 1/2 hr cook
*Again not posting the recipe because clearly mine failed. Anyway, FYI changes I made were...
- removed bayleaves as had none
- ketchup for tomato paste
- 7/8 parts milk to 1/8 part butter for half&half
(modified from original recipe here)
I found this website while desperately looking for a substitute for garam masala that did not involve seeds and leaves (although I profess to be a cooking purist, I draw the line at plant parts - give me powdered spices anyday man). The recipe seemed easy, so why not?
Now I'm a little regretful about using this recipe instead of googling other butter chicken recipes; after googling for other recipes in retrospect, I realised this recipe lacked some ingredients (which I can't remember) other recipes had. However, it could also be because I did not add bay leaves, which is supposed to have a very distinctive flavour. I still think this recipe is a little more mild on the spices and heavy ont the tomato though.
About the ketchup; google-fu affirmed that ketchup and tomato paste were virtually perfect substitutes (ha, *dons econs-glasses*) but on hindsight I believe ketchup is slightly stronger so I could have used less, and more importantly, ketchup is more liquid so that would have messed up the gravy texture! In the future, I'm also firmly convinced I should use yoghurt (or sour cream or whatevs) instead of milk as once again, that affects the texture. Seriously, it was like drinking tomato-based soup. It did not help I added in chopped tomatoes (omg what was I thinking!?) on top of the ketchup. The 'stew' become sooo sweet!
Finally; I think I should marinate the chicken before I cook it, because if I had just doused all the 'gravy' (soup?) off the chicken it would have just tasted like plain chicken. It was white! Have you ever seen butter chicken that was white in colour, even at the crappiest Indian restaurants?!
VERDICT: 4/10
(if verdict was based solely on authencity I'd give this 1 but because the taste was pretty decent if you were looking for a tomato-based sweet stew with mild spices [i.e. not Indian food], I've bumped the grade up)
Labels: COOKING
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Sunday, August 3, 2008
, 10:31 PM
Chicken and egg on rice in the famous sweet-salty Japanese sauce; what more can you ask for?
AUGUST 1, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 3-4Ingredients
Chicken breats, 2 (bite-sized pieces)
Large brown onion, 1 (thinly sliced)
Dashi (fish stock), 200ml cup (1/3 tsp of dashi powder + 200ml water)
Sugar, 4 tsp
Soy sauce, 4 tbsp
Mirin (cooking wine), 2 tbsp
Eggs, 4 (beaten)
Rice, 6-8 cups
1. Cook the rice as per normal (typically I use a rice cooker)
2. Put the sliced onion, dashi, sugar, soy sauce and mirin into a sauce pan and heat on high till you see steam.
3. Turn the heat down to a simmer, add the chicken and cook for about 5min till the chicken is done
4. Spoon a quarter/third of the mixture in a small frying pan (ideally about the size of the bowl you'll be serving the oyako-don in) and a quarter/third of the egg, cover, and cook to your liking
5. Slide the cooked mixture onto the rice*
6. Repeat for the remaining portions
*Alternatively (and this works better for me), flip it onto a plate and then flip it back on top of the rice
Optional: Garnish with seaweed
(modified from original recipe here)
Don means 'bowl' and is the suffix given to every dish that features food on top of a bowl of rice. Oyako literally means 'parent and child', which refers to the chicken and egg on top of this particular rice bowl. Isn't that the cutest name ever?
I lovelovelovelove Japanese rice bowls because of that amazing sweet and salty sauce on it, and chicken & egg are two of my favourite foods, making this one of my perennial J-food favourites (along with curry rice).
If you notice, this recipe is pretty similar to my sham sukiyaki chicken in terms of the sauce, with the main difference being the use of dashi instead of chicken broth, which probably makes it more authentic. I think this sauce is a basic prototype for a lot of Japanese food.
Dashi is a fish stock commonly used in Japanese cooking. Athena and I (my cooking partner for this meal) had a little trouble figuring out the directions for the dashi powder that we had, which very helpfully told us one packet was enough to make miso for 10 or oden for 4. Google-fu got us to eventually decide on adding a third teaspoon of instant powder to 200ml water, which appears to have worked fine for our recipe (possibly more powder could be okay as well). Subsequently we realised the person we got the original recipe from used the exact same brand of dashi as we did, yet did not think of clarifying how to translate a packet of dashi powder into 200ml cup. Thanks.
Anyone the use of dashi got me wondering; would fish sauce (commonly used in southeast asian cuisine) work as a substitute? I have a whole bottle of that in my place. Alternatively, if you do not have dashi I think chicken broth would be a pretty decent substitute, as the sham sukiyaki chicken demonstrated.
Also, some interesting info I came up with on cooking wine while searching for the western/non-J equivalent.
VERDICT: 9/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 1:15 PM
An easy curry recipe.
JULY 25, 08
RECIPE
Serves:Ingredients
Chicken, 1 breast (diced)
Garlic, 1/2 tsp
Thyme, 1-2tsp
Pepper, 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tbsp
Curry powder, 3-4tbsp
Chopped tomatoes, 1/4 cup
Chopped onion, 1/4 cup
Hot water, 1/2 cup
1. Cut chicken into small pieces and season with garlic, thyme, salt and hot pepper.
2. Marinate for 30min or more.
3. Heat oil in a pot/skillet
4. Add curry powder to water, add to hot oil and cook 2-3min
5. Add chicken and stir to coat in curry; allow all water to dry out; stir well (est 10min)
6. Add tomatoes and onion, cook for a minute; stir in 1/2 cup hot water
7. Lower heat to medium; cover and cook till meat is tender; add more water if more sauce is required
8. Adjust salt and pepper.
The main thing going for the recipe is that it's easy to make while also being pretty good to eat (nothing outstanding though).
However, I messed up in 2 ways. One, I put wayyyy too much basil (I think I forgot to moderate the amount of ingredients required after I 1/8-ed or something the recipe again). And then my boss informed me that they never put basil in West Indian food. Well, I did know basil was more for Italian food, but I didn't have any thyme and I didn't want to buy something I couldn't finish.
Anyway, with regards to the recipe, I re-tweaked it to reflect amounts that I think should work, but I don't know if that really is the case...The amount of water in the recipe is for one whole chicken, but when I tried to make it any less I felt it had too little water and the chicken wouldn't get cooked evenly, so I upped the amount of water. So possibly the final product was wetter than it should be since it's not a curry, but that's okay as I like the curry sauce anyway.
VERDICT: 6/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 7:00 AM
Quick-bite pizza with an english muffin twist!
JULY 31, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 1-2Ingredients
6 muffin halves (want to make your own English muffins? here's how)
1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese, packed
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, sliced thin
3/4 cup diced ham
2 tsp sage
1/4 teaspoon stoneground mustard
Optional: A few slices of fresh tomato
1 Preheat oven to 425°F.
2 Melt butter in a medium skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the diced ham, cook 5 minutes more. Mix in the sage. Remove from heat.
3 Put muffin halves, open side up on a sturdy baking pan. Distribute the cheese evenly, sprinkling over the muffin halves. Put the onion ham mixture on top of the cheese. If you want to use tomato slices, layer them between the cheese and onion mixture.
4 Bake at 425°F for 8-9 minutes, until the muffins and toppings are nicely browned, but not burnt. Cut into quarters for appetizers or just leave whole for a meal or snack.
(modified from original recipe here)
So I did some experimenting with this recipe. I halved it, and the first muffin half had a slice of tomato, the second did not, and the third I mixed with this Japanese sauce just because I like its taste and felt like seeing how the Asian fusion would taste. I also skipped on the mustard because I didn't have it, although I think the mustard-sage combo would have been delicious.
Verdict? I need to slice the tomato a LOT thinner or use sundried tomatoes because the tomato still tasted very juicy and raw (and not what I like in my pizza). Also, the Japanese sauced one wasn't as good as the original, though I can't remember what it tasted like anymore.
I would make this again if I had english muffins on hand because it's simple, quick and filling, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy english muffins for it. In the end, I still prefer my pizza crusts thin and crispy.
VERDICT: 7/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 5:20 AM
It may not be as full of flavour as the restaurant ones, but it's quick to cook and has a taste of home!
JULY 28, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 1Ingredients
Rice, 1 cup (leftover rice is best!)
Ham, 1/4 cup (diced)
Onion, 1/4-1/5 of a whole (diced)
Garlic, 1/2 clove
Egg, 1 (beaten)
Mixed vege, 1/4 cup
Soy sauce, 2 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in wok on high, then fry garlic and onion for about 2 min
2. Add the meat and vege and fry for a few min
3. Add the rice and fry for a few more min
4. Make a well in the center and pour in the beaten egg. Leave it to solidify for maybe half a minute then toss all the ingredients together.
4. Add soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
I actually love home-cooked fried rice more than the restaurant one. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up on it.
When I made this, I actually misread my mum's instructions and added ginger. What?! Did not add to the taste, clearly. Also I did not add oyster sauce as I thought I didn't have it (just discovered it in my fridge yesterday). I wonder how different it'd taste with oyster sauce...As a general rule, I dislike oyster sauce in large, oily quantities but this would probably only call for 1-2 tsp.
Other than the egg (sacrilegious to even consider this!), the ingredients in the fried rice can be varied to your taste (like adding shrimp, peas, corn...) but I personally think KEEP THE HAM. To me, that's what really makes my home-cooked fried rice.
VERDICT: 8/10
Labels: COOKING
@ , 4:58 AM
JULY 26, 08
Meh, I'm not going to post this recipe. What a failure. The star anise taste was too strong and the soup was kinda sweet, without the spicy zing of Bak Kut Teh. I actually don't really know what is wrong with the recipe, because I am suck at pinpointing tastes in recipes (ergo suck at cooking), but I think I definitely need less star anise.
If anyone wants to try though, it's this recipe. As I did not have cinammon sticks, I used 1/2 tsp to substitute each cinammon stick. Also, when I realised there was something wrong with the taste of the bak kut teh, I dumped in at least 5 more tablespoons of peppercorn to hopefully combat the problem. Fail.
Gave some to several Sg friends to critique, and the verdict was there was definitely something off about it. If it's any good sign though, my Canadian (Colombian/Ecuadorian origins) friend really liked the soup when paired with rice.
VERDICT: FAILED
Labels: COOKING
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
, 8:32 AM
Quick to prepare and yummy on the tummy.
JULY 29, 08
RECIPE (+1photo)
Serves: 2Ingredients
Macaroni, 1 1/4 cup (uncooked)
Cheddar cheese, 1 cup (shredded)
Tuna, 1 can (180g not drained)
Mushrooms, 1/2 cup (or replace with vege of choice)
Cream of whatever, 300ml
1. Spread half the macaroni in a butterloaf (about 7x3") tin
2. Layer half the cheese
3. Layer the tuna...
4. The mushrooms...
5. The rest of the macaroni...
6. Pour in the cream of corn (if it doesn't cover all the macaroni add more soup or even water or the top bit won't cook)
7. And the rest of the cheese
8. Bake in oven preheated at 350F/180C for 30min, covered, and 20min uncovered and/or the cheese on top turns brown/bubbly
(modified from original recipe here)
what it looks like inside!
What I love about this recipe is that the ingredients are easy to get ahold of and are common in most kitchens, easy to play around with (more tuna or less, or changing ingredients as you please - assorted greens instead of mushrooms...) and prep time is quick. My only gripe (as with all oven recipes) is the baking time required, which makes me loathe to call any recipes involving the oven quick&easy. To prepare, maybe, but not to sink your teeth into.
Really, this recipe is for you to change as how you wish. Use whatever veges you prefer, or leave it out. Use a different pasta (or even rice, as in the original recipe). Use more or less cheese. Use cream of chicken, corn or mushroom, in the end what you're really tasting is the tuna and cheese. I discovered this last info when I swapped cream of corn for the cream of mushroom stated in the original recipe (as usual just making use of whatever I have in my kitchen).
Another important thing which I'd learnt the last (and first) time I made this recipe was to make sure the soup covered the top of the macaroni or the top bit stays hard and doesn't cook. Alternatively, you can boil the macaroni till its soft before putting it in the baking tin so it doesn't matter how much soup you add, but it's probably just quicker to add more soup and let the oven do the cooking.
The recipe I've posted actually differs somewhat from how I made the casserole. Firstly, I used 1 1/2 cups macaroni and it feels mainly like I'm eating creamy macaroni with a bit of tuna, cheese and mushrooms. That isn't bad at all, but I think I can safely cut down on the macaroni and still enjoy the meal. Secondly, I used shredded mozarella for the first layer of cheese and cheddar cheese slices for the top layer, because I wanted to keep the cheese slices for other uses (like toasting with bread), but the taste of the mozarella is rather weak in the casserole so if I had a choice I'd use cheddar entirely. Also, I only cut one portobello mushroom into the casserole, which is what, 1/5 cup? I don't know why I didn't just use more...
VERDICT: PASSED
Labels: COOKING
@ , 12:35 AM
Fluffy egg omelette infused with the taste of rosemary
JULY 4, 08
*served with parboiled rice, one of my new fav rice varieties!
RECIPE (+1photo)
Serves: 1-2Ingredients
Eggs, 3 (beaten)
Rosemary, 1 tsp
Salt, 1 tsp
Pepper, 1/4 tsp
Cheese, 1/8 cup
Onion, 1/4 (minced)
Mushrooms, 1/2 cup (diced) [meaty mushrooms e.g. portobellos are best]
1. Mix together the beaten eggs, rosemary, cheese, salt and pepper
2. Heat oil in a 6" pan and cook onion till softened (3min)
3. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 min
4. Reduce heat to low and add egg mixture
5. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 min
6. Flip and cook for another 10 min
7. Repeat 5 & 6 till you build a nice brown crust on both sides
*might have to run a spatula underneath the egg occasionally to prevent it from sticking
(modified from original recipe in the Toronto Star)
The reason for using such a small pan is because it helps the omelette achieve it's shape (also, do not understand why the recipe calls this a tortilla when it's clearly just an omelette...trying to sound more exciting I guess). The original called for 12 eggs so a normal pan would suffice for that I'm sure. Also, I had to include step7 (and 5 and 6) only because I don't know how long it would take for the crust to brown, so if you can gauge better than me please do spare yourself this trouble.
On to taste. This was the first time I made anything with rosemary (believe me, before this summer herbs like rosemary and basil were foreign concepts to me, and even ingredients used in Chinese cooking like cloves and star anise were just names to me) and I didn't like it that much. It was okay, and definitely interesting, but it's not a recipe I'm dying to make again anytime soon.
Other than taste, my main gripe was the lenth of time required to make it. By following the instructions faithfully, I ended up taking almost an hour to make it as I dutifully waited for the liquid top of the egg to cook before flipping it; then I got impatient and just put the lid on, and the steam effect cooked the top in less than 5 minutes! Even so, this recipe will still take longer to make than my Chinese omelette, as it has to be put on low heat to achieve the fluffy effect.
I really do like the light, fluffy texture though; so I'll probably reuse this recipe in some form in the future.
Labels: COOKING
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Friday, July 25, 2008
, 5:55 AM
Chinese omelettes are easy to make and taste good with anything!
JULY 2, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 2Ingredients
Eggs, 3
Snowpeas, 1 cup (or so)
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Fry snowpeas in a tablespoon of heated oil for a few minutes
2. Add beaten eggs (with salt & pepper)
3. After a few minutes, when the bottom of the egg and sides have solidified and it looks like you can flip the egg without liquid flying everywhere...flip.
4. When the underside is done you can take the egg out
Variations: Tastes good with onions, mushrooms or long beans (my personal fav)
Uhm, why do I even bother putting this 'recipe'? It's entirely common-sense. And one of the easiest, delicious Chinese recipes out there. Eggs are delish!
I will say though, I still prefer (chopped) long beans in my scrambled eggs to snow peas. Snow peas are kind of big, making it hard to cut up the eggs. And as I mentioned before in my sham sukiyaki chicken recipe snow peas have a very strong taste. Also, would add more salt next time as the egg is somewhat bland.
VERDICT: PASSED
Labels: COOKING
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Sunday, July 20, 2008
, 11:36 AM
The irony was the sauce tasted better with the firm tofu I tossed in for kicks
JULY 19, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
Pork, cut into 1 inch cubes (1/4 kg?)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/3 cup pineapple chunks
1/3 cup firm tofu, chopped into bite-size pieces
SAUCE
3 tbsp tapioca starch/cornflour
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup pineapple/orange juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp cooking wine
3 tbsp tomato paste
1. Rub pork with salt and cornflour.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, egg and water to make batter.
3. Coat pork with batter and deep-fry until cooked and bown.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in wok and stirfry onion.
4. Mix all sauce ingredients and add to wok, stirring till sauce thickens.
5. Stir in fried pork, pineapple chunks and tofu, cooking until all ingredients are thoroughly heated.
It looks the real deal, but this was actually a very mediocre dish. First off, I really dislike the recipe, but I'd already decided on the dish (having only read the ingredients list and not the steps) and I was too lazy to google up another recipe. I hate deepfrying. Nothing makes you feel as sick and unhealthy as oil dripping off glistening food back into a pool of oil. Secondly, the recipe called for more work than I thought. Isn't Chinese cooking all about the stirfry?! Why the coating in 2 batters & deepfrying?
It did not help that the pork had a really disgusting stink to it. I don't think the pork I handled the last time I made a pork dish smelt like that...but if it does, I fully understand why the bible says the pig is the dirtiest animal. Or maybe it's just because this is Chinatown pork (spare ribs, to be exact). It doesn't even have the expiry date written!
Other problems in the cooking process: Tried to circumvent the deepfrying by just stirfrying - clearly did not work as the batter just got thick and messy before solidifying so had to switch to deepfrying. Also, batter itself was too thick and had already fried half the pork before adding more water to make it thinner.
As for final outcome. Added too much tapioca starch in fear it would be runny (think: lemon chicken failure), but it became too sticky (crap, it's always either too watery or too sticky). As for the taste, I have one important tip: do NOT use spaghetti tomato sauce to substitute tomato paste. Way too strong. Also, I would put in less (or no) pineapple chunks, because the pineapple acidity was too strong. Most of the batter skin from the deepfrying came off at some point the stirring into the sauce (possibly because a) it was too thick b) I didn't deepfry at a high temperature so it didn't really stick) as well. Also, maybe the batter was too thick but seriously, it was just like eating soggy dumpling skins; that doesn't help me like the dish any more...
The only thing I thought actually tasted good with the sauce was the tofu. But then again, tofu tastes good with anything.
Also, I'm definitely getting better pork the next time. Too many bones, rubbery meat, and the stink that still haunted the meat even through the strong sauce!
VERDICT: FAILED
Labels: COOKING
@ , 10:42 AM
Sweet and mildly spicy chicken stew!
JULY 18, 08
RECIPE
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (1/4 kg?)
Coriander, 1 tsp
Basil leaves, 1 1/2 tsp
Rosemary leaves, 1 1/2 tsp
Chicken broth powder, 1/2 tsp
Onions, 1.5 tbsp chopped
Garlic, 1 clove, diced
Coconut milk, 1/4 cup
Pepper flakes, 1 tsp or to taste
Ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp
Brown sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt, 1 tsp
1. Season chicken with coriander, basil, rosemary, salt, garlic and black pepper and leave to marinate for 1/2 hour
2. Heat oil in a pot, add sugar and stir till it turns a dark, reddish brown (keep watching and stirring to make sure it doesn't burn!)
3. Add chicken and allow the sugar to caramelise (a minute?) before turning over; continue till the chicken is nicely browned and the liquid is drying out
4. Add water, pepper flakes, onion and coconut milk.
5. Cover pot and cook on medium heat till chicken is tender (approx 10min). Leave the lid slightly off so the water has a chance to escape and the sauce becomes less watery.
RICE:
Basmati rice, 1 1/2 cups
Turmeric powder, 1 tsp
Butter, 1 tsp
Mix all in water and cook in rice cooker.
(modified from my boss' Trinidad & Tobago cookbook, here and here
It was a pretty interesting dish, but when it comes to spices, I still think nothing beats Indian food. As I've never tried Trini food before, I gave some to my boss & coworker to critique - they said it was good, but a little sweeter than usual, and also apparently the coconut milk made it taste more thai?
Strangely enough, coconut milk is listed as being a traditional part of this dish on two online recipes I found, though in my boss' cookbook it wasn't part of the ingredients. Yep, this recipe is a fusion of 3 recipes! I had all 3 of them spread on the microwave and mixed and matched the instructions/ingredients as I preferred. (yeah Ms follow-recipe-to-T Siming will hate me, ha) I was a little suspicious of the cookbook after my lemon chicken failed spectacularly (but after reviewing I think squeezing too much lemon juice might have been what damned it) & I've noticed that the recipes in the book seem to be simpler than others I've seen.
The original recipe/s all called for thyme which I did not have, hence the rosemary/basil substitutes (userful info). As for the rice, I think I put too little turmeric & butter for the taste to come out (I'm pretty sure what I tasted was the natural flavour of basmati) but it did colour the rice a nice exotic yellow! Hurhur. (P.S. Irrelevant tangent: saffron rice is yum)
I think I'd like to try this recipe again a) without coconut milk b) with ketchup, to see how different it tastes. Also, I used 3 tbsp sugar which was a mistake as I halved everything else (except chicken, which I 1/8-ed, ha; all these recipes seem to feed hordes) so I'll be remedying that (already reflected in my recipe).
VERDICT: PASSED
Labels: COOKING
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Saturday, July 19, 2008
, 7:25 PM
Make only if you like rice noodles with garlic and lime
JULY 17TH, 08
RECIPE
IngredientsLime, 1/2
Egg, 1
Fish sauce, 4 tsp
Garlic, 3 cloves minced
Shalot, 1 minced (or sub with equal amount of onion)
Sugar, 2 tbsp
Tamarind, 2 tbsp (sub with 1 tbsp white vinger & more lime)
Rice noodles, 2 cups softened (soak in lukewarm water or boil)
Shrimp, 1/2 cup
Bean sprouts, 1/2 cup
Extra-firm tofu, 1/2 cup
Peanuts, 2 tbsp crushed
1. Heat oil on fry heat
2. Roast onions till light brown and remove
3. Add shallot, garlic and tofu and fry till they brown lightly
4. Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and keep tossing
5. Crack the egg into the wok and scramble it into the noodles
6. Add shrimp and toss for a about 1-2min
7. Add bean sprouts and toss for 1-2min
8. Pour into plate and add peanuts for serving
The website claims this is the recipe to authentic pad thai. So either the tamarind makes a world of a difference, or I don't like true pad thai. It tastes very different from the pad thai I've tried (and liked).
This dish was okay, tasted bland-ish except for the garlic and lime taste, but it's not something I would make again.
Just one tip on softening the rice noodles; if boiling them be very careful not to overboil or it becomes too sticky.
A bunch of my ex-floormates and I made this for dinner, so the credit does not only go to me! And I'm not saying the noodles are bad, just not to my tastet. I (alone) also tried to make lemon chicken but that was a serious, serious fail. Just like this recipe, it tasted okay, but not like lemon chicken. So no picture. No recipe. Too ugly. Yeah, today was a bad cooking day for me. The only thing that turned out right was the Fried Mars Bar and it was a heart attack getting there
VERDICT: FAILED
Labels: COOKING
@
Sunday, July 13, 2008
, 12:54 PM
Sukiyaki wo suki! / I like sukiyaki!
JULY 12TH, 08
RECIPE
Ingredients
Chicken, 0.15kg cut into bite-size pieces (or beef, sliced thinly)
Sugar, 1/2 teaspoon
Soy sauce, 3 tablespoons
Chicken broth, 1/4 cup
Onions, 1/4 cup chopped
Snow peas, 1/4 cup
Oil, one tablespoon
1. Heat oil in pan/wok
2. Fry (sautee?) chicken till the outsides change colour
3. Mix the soy sauce, sugar and chicken broth then pour it into the pan. Cook for another 2 min.
4. Add the onion and snowpeas. Cook for another 5min. Keep tossing the ingredients to make sure they're evenly cooked.
Why is this sham sukiyaki? Because I googled sukiyaki after making this recipe and realised sukiyaki is supposed to be more of a soup, whereas mine is like a regular dish with runny sauce. Other divergences include the lack of mirin (cooking wine) and use of chicken broth and onion. I modified this from my boss' Trinidadian cookbook (she's from Trinidad).
Naming authencity aside, this dish is amazing, not to mention amazingly simple AND quick to make. It actually tastes a lot like Oyako Don (chicken & egg rice bowl) minus the egg. Mmmm. I'm going to be reusing this recipe a lot!
You can swap other vegetables/ingredients for the snow peas (which wasn't even in the recipe I used; I just wanted to finish them up) like spinach, cabbage, mushrooms (enoki! yum). Snow peas kind of mask the salty sweet scent of the sauce actually, though it doesn't change the taste. Another thing I'd change is to reduce the time cooking to preserve more of the sauce (which I love), Although I wrote 2+5min in the above recipe, I actually followed the recipe's 2+10min, which is probably because that recipe called for more chicken (like, 8x more, haha).
Why did I put sautee in brackets? Because apparently yaki = sautee but for all my google-fu I still can't really figure out a conclusive difference between sauteeing and frying.
Lastly, do you know why Japanese food is so yummy? Because they use sugar in everything. EVERYTHING, I swear. How do I know this? I play Cooking Mama. I actually tried making a recipe based solely on modifications from the Cooking Mama directions, lol (sweet egg - an easy recipe).
Labels: COOKING
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008
, 10:07 AM
Gosh I miss those sandwiches
JULY 7TH, 08
RECIPE
Ingredients
OpenWindow dark rye bread
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Blackforest Ham (I use President's Choice)
Cheddar cheese (I would prefer using one with a lighter flavour though)
Hellmann's mayonnaise
(I don't even know why I bother putting this 'recipe', lol. Everyone's favourite Wymilwood sandwich is different anyway.)
Toast the bread (to prevent it from becoming soggy), then assemble as you wish. Tip - put the dryest food items (i.e. ham & cheese) next to the bread to prevent it, again, from becoming soggy. Why my obsession with sogginess? True life experience. Not nice.
I do seem to be addicted much to updating my foodblog, huh. I hope this enthusiasm lasts. As my mum likes to say of me, I suffer from the 5-min-hotness syndrome.
Anyway, Wymilwood Cafe is the name of the cafe at my college and I really like their sandwiches. And as they say, imitation is the best form of flattery! I think I'm finally satisfied with my imitation Wymilwood sandwiches. Of course, being a cafe, they have mindboggling options (for a person used to the likes of Macs) from types of bread to cheese, but this is my favourite combination.
Today I had a variation of this sandwich. I basically took out the cheese and ham to make a vege sandwich! WOW, the first vege sandwich this meat/sweets/all-things-unhealthy lover has eaten in her life. I'm so proud of myself today. I had cereal for breakfast, one chicken thigh (refer to below post) for lunch, vege sandwich for dinner and cucumbers & watermelon as snacks. My only sins were 2 1cmx1xcm Middle-Eastern pastry snacks and cereal for a late-night snack. Yay for living healthy!
You know why I could stomach the vege sandwich? It's all about the mayo, man. Hellmann's mayonnaise is so good I could eat it with plain bread. It's also what makes or break my pseudo-Wymilwood sandwiches.
Labels: COOKING
@ , 7:43 AM
Simple oven-baked chicken with delicious Indian spices!
JULY 8TH, 08
RECIPE
Chicken legs - 4
Black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon (full if you want spicier)
Salt - 1 and 1/2 tsps
Garlic powder - 1 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1 tsp
Chili - 1/2 tsp (full if you want spicier)
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Clove powder - 1/4 tsp
If you want it juicier, put in the oven for an hour at 375 degrees F. If you want it faster, put it in the oven for 45 mins at 450 degrees. But every oven differs so its best to check yourself to make sure the chicken is properly cooked. If you like it really juicy, wrap the chicken in aluminum foil.
For extra delicious flavour, cut slits in the chicken and stuff small slices of garlic into them before putting the chicken in the oven.
(original recipe from my friend Nabila)
A little anaemic looking, huh? So, this was lunch today. [: You can definitely say I've gone through a drastic change in my appetite, from shying away from Indian food due to its spiciness, to now embracing it for that very same reason (well, mild spice anyway).
As I used just a chicken thigh, I halved the recipe, except for pepper and chilli as I wanted to try spicy this time. However, I either have a stronger tolerance for hot food than previously believed, or the pepper & chilli stocked in my cupboard are pathetic (possible, because the pepper is from a 'western' company and the chilli from Japanese). Also, I wrapped the chicken in aluminum foil to preserve the moisture, because the last time Nabs and I made it it was a little on the dry side. That made the chicken beautifully succulent!
This dish is incredibly easy to make, and the only drawback really is that the ingredients are not easy to find in a Chinese kitchen like mine (but like I've mentioned before, I've collected a lot of kitchen supplies from outgoing friends so I do have some stuff I would never buy otherwise).
Labels: COOKING
@
Saturday, July 5, 2008
, 5:18 PM
Yay for quick & idiot-proof (but still good) meals!
Ingredients
Rice, 1 cup
Water, 2 cups?
Chicken thigh, 250g?
Garlic, 1 clove
1. Bring water with rice to a simmer in a pot
2. Cut chicken thigh into bite-sized pieces;
3. When the rice has softened, toss the chicken (with the bones! for flavour) and garlic and let simmer till
--
Seriously, you can't get more idiot-proof than this. Also, my ingredient amounts/instructions are a near total lie. This is why I don't foresee myself posting too many cooking recipes; my cooking tends to be a random mixing/substituting of the ingredients listed on a recipe in any amount/order I feel like. Just go with the basic ingredients and use your common sense to guide you to culinary heaven.
The general recipe for this came from my (maternal) grandma, whose absolutely delicious chicken porridge I was trying to emulate. Or at least, as much as I could understand; I know the names of more kitchen ingredients in Japanese than Chinese. o_0 Though yummy, I'm not sure if my porridge tastes like her signature porridge because I don't actually remember what hers tastes like anymore. I'm looking forward to learning it from her firsthand when I return hom in 2 months.
Labels: COOKING
