Fish Porridge Set

I have been very busy for the past weeks. My son had Chicken Pox but it was lucky for me that he recovered rather quickly and it wasn't passed to my daughter. The unfortunate thing was everyone else was sick too. We didn't have appetite for any food other than porridge. It's a torture to try feeding sick kids, especially if they have a cold. They either reject the food or eat very little. Thank God, my kids love porridge especially porridge with fish slices and can finish one big bowl for it and really fast. :) The way I do my fish porridge is slightly different. My friends called it Fish Porridge Set. ;P I always use snakehead fish aka Toman as it not fishy and is flaky. Season 300g of the fish slices for 30 minutes with 2 teaspoon light soy sauce, 2 teaspoon cooking wine, 4 teaspoon ginger juice. Do retain the ginger after squeezing out the juice. In a dish, place fish slices without the marinade. Add a few pieces of spring onions to it, white parts only. Steam it for 7 minutes or till cooked. You will have a dish of steamed fish slices with lots of sauce. However, if you have kids who do not like to eat whole slice of fish, like my daughter, take half of the fish slices and cook it with the porridge. As it is flaky, after a few stirs, it will break down and blend in with the porridge. Do not waste the marinade. You can add the marinade to the porridge and cook together. Add another 2 to 3 slices of ginger to the porridge if you like. I don't add in any more seasoning as we will use the sauce from the steamed fish as seasoning. You can add seasoning if you like. I do not throw away the remains of the ginger after squeezing out the juice. I fry it will some oil or sesame seed oil till golden brown and I can use that as garnishing. As the ginger is not as juicy, it browns very fast, so be careful not to burn it. How do we eat our porridge? Other than my daughter, who will only eat with the fish flaked and blended into the porridge, the rest of us eat our porridge with slices of fish and spring onions, top with fried ginger and spring onions, drizzled with sauce from the steamed fish and some sesame seed oil if you like. Try this for a change.

Braised Pork Belly

My husband No. 1 favourite! I haven't cook this for him since his medical report came back with a 'star' mark next to his cholesterol some time back.

His recent 2 reports came back without any 'stars' so I thought I indulgent him with this for just this time. My daughter's eyes lit up too when she saw this. No, she doesn't like the fatty pork but the braised eggs. My favourite too. My son only likes the sauce over his rice. ;)


Ingredients:

• 300g Pork Belly, cut into bite size
• 5 Garlic, lightly smashed with skin intact
• 1 1/2 tablespoon, Dark Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 400ml Water
• Hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Add garlic and stir fry till slightly brown and fragnant.
3. Add pork belly and stir fry till 75% cooked.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
6. Serve with rice.
   

Roast Chicken with Spices

I found some spots on my son's body and confirmed today that he has got the Chickpox! Great timing! The worst was the doctor said most likely my daughter would get it from him too since they are always fighting playing together. We would probably know after 2 weeks. Okay. At least, I'm mentally prepared. So, if you don't see my post after this, it would be I'm busy disinfecting the place everyday. PLUS, I'll have a crazy schedule come 2009. My son will be in Primary 1 and my daughter in Nursery. One in the afternoon session and the other in the morning session. *faint* There will be lots of walking for me for sure. I probably won't have much time to sit down in front of my computer. I'll still try my best to post recipes here whenever I can. By the way, 2 years ago this day, I started food blogging here. Yap, the blog is 2 years old today. I was so swah-ku, so clueless about the real world then, having stayed at home for 2 years. My little world only revolves around my family. I started blogging without realizing I was actually doing it. How blur was that! ^_^" Okay, bet you must be scrolling down trying to get where the recipe for this dish is. :P This dish was inspired by the very talented Mamabliss' baked chicken. I had intended to make this for a Christmas gathering with some friends but had to be cancelled now. Ingredients:

• 1 (small) Chicken, washed, cleaned and dried
• 2 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 Clove Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 tablespoon Butter

How to do it:

1. Heat a wok and stir fry without oil, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and salt till fragnant.
2. Pound or grind, all ingredients except butter and Chicken together.
3. Mix with butter.
4. Separate the skin from the chicken using a spoon.
5. Rub paste under the skin, in the cavity and all over chicken.
6. Place in oven proof dish and cover it or seal with foil
7. Roast at 200C for 1 hr till cooked. If you are using Water Oven, use Super Roast - Chicken.
8. Remove cover or foil.
9. Remove excess oil and continue roasting at 220c for 15 minutes to brown the skin.
10. Let it cool a little before carving.

* Moist inside *

Mushroom & Cheese Soup 芝士奶油蘑菇浓汤

It's school holidays and I can't get much housework done with the kids around. There's no point packing as it will get messy the next minute. What I do is stay up late to clear my housework. Anyone wants to help out?

I always have mushroom in my fridge cos it's the family's favourite. For one of my late night suppers, I decided to make soup as I wanted some easy and fast to cook. Something I don't need much time to prepare nor lots of cleaning after cooking.

I had wanted to cook this but run out of cream. I 'stole' a few slices of my daughter's cheese to replace the cream instead to change it a little. Hot, creamy and yummy soup for the cold night. Just my kind of comfort food.

Ingredients:

• 500ml Water
• 8 Button Mushroom, diced
• 4 Shitake Mushroom, sliced
• 15g Butter
• 4 slice Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Flour
• 2 tablespoon Water

How to do it:

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan.
2. Add in the mushroom and saute till mushroom softens.
3. Add in the water and bring to a gentle boil.
4. Add in the cheese and stir to melt it.
5. Mix flour with water.
6. When soup begins to bubbles, gradually stir in the mixture to give the soup a creamy texture.
7. Serve with bread.
   

Note:

• I do not add salt as it's salty enough with the cheese. However, if you find it not salty enough for you, add more cheese.
• You don't have to use 2 types of mushroom. I used 2 types, more if I have, as I prefers different texture.

This recipe is for Weekend Wokking hosted by Marija of Palachinka.

Steamed Tofu with Prawns 蒸豆腐虾

My daughter loves this dish and she can finish all the tofu on her own. That is after some adjustments to it. Previously, when I do this I use dried mushroom. Perhaps the smell and taste is too strong to her liking and I used fresh shitake mushroom instead and she loves it. Of course, partially the reason was the sauce too. Tofu are bland without any accompanying sauce, kids might not like it at all.  

Ingredients:

• 1 block silken Tofu, sliced equally in smaller pieces
• 6 Prawns or depending on the no. of slices of tofu you have
• 1 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, sliced
• 1 section Carrot, about length of finger shredded
• Sesame Seed Oil

Sauce:

• 5 tablespoon Water
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 3/4 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)

How to do it:

1. Place sliced tofu on dish.
2. Remove heads and shells of prawns.
3. Slit the back of prawns.
4. Devien and clean.
5. Place prawns with slitted back on tofu.
6. Place a slice of mushroom and some shredded carrot on prawns.
7. Steam for 7 minutes or till prawns are cooked.
8. Pour away 2/3 the amount of liquid from steaming on the dish.
9. While the tofu is steaming, prepare the sauce.
10. Put all ingredients for sauce except for cornflour mixture in a saucepan.
11. Cook till it bubbles.
12. Gradually stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce.
13. Pour sauce over the prawn and tofu.
14. Drizzle on sesame seed oil.
15. Serve immediately.

Note: To make prawns to curl up like mine in the photo, cut through the prawns making sure to leave about 1.5cm from head end intact. You should see a hole in the prawn. Stick the tail through the hole, bending on the belly side. The back of the prawns will be 'opened'.

Thank you, Maryann of Finding la dolce vita, for inviting me to enter the Seven Fishes Feast organised by herself and Joe of Italyville. It is very interesting to know about the traditional Italian Christmas Eve Feast. This dish is neither Italian or does it looks like a dish for Christmas, perhaps only for the colours. ;) If you want a different Seven Fishes Feast, you might like to consider this.

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Fried Fish in Soy Sauce

I haven't buy (whole) Groupa for a long time as it too big to fit into my small pan wok for cooking. I got one anyway and told the fishmonger to get the smallest he can find. :P He even 'butterfly' it for me. I'll be lucky if I can get the whole fish in. That's the problem with having a small wok. My original plan was to try to replica the home-made fried tofu we always have at the Soup Restaurant. But I'm really lousy in frying beancurd. I'm still practicing though. I will share my way of doing it if I ever master it. :P Anyway, I gathered that the sauce which was inspired by the fried tofu dish I mention should goes well with fried fish too. But be prepared to clean up the kitchen after this. Okay, okay, the oil spat is only the initial part so you probably need to only clean the wall and a small part of the floor. ;) Ingredients:

• 1 Groupa, cleaned
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• Corn Flour for dusting
• Oil for frying

Garnish:

• 1 - 2 tablespoon Dried Shrimps, fried till crispy
• lots of Spring Onions and Coriander

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 5 tablespoon Water
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine

How to do it:

1. Rub salt over fish.
2. Give the fish a few parallel cuts on both side to help faster cooking.
3. Dust whole fish with cornflour.
4. When oil is hot (not smoking), carefully slide fish in.
5. Gently scoop oil and pour over the top of the fish, if you dare too. ;) The oil is hot but not splatting.
6. Slowing turn the fish over once the bottom is nicely brown about 4 minutes for mine.
7. Continue frying for another 3 minutes or till cooked and skin is brown.
8. Drain away oil and place on a dish.
9. Put fried dried shrimps, spring onions and coriander on fish.
10. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
11. Pour over fish.
12. Drizzle on some sesame seed oil and serve immediately.

Broccoli and Pasta with Cheese Sauce

This is one dish I have experiment for a few times and only got it right (according to my taste) on my 4th try. To be exact, it was the cheese sauce that I was working on.

If anyone of you had been to Long John Slivers, you will know the Cheese sauce that comes with the chips. I was trying my luck to do that. No, I didn't achieve that but I'm still trying BUT this is not too bad either *thick-skin*.

In the first place, the cheese I used is not the correct one. I used Kraft Cheddar but the LJS's cheese tasted more like La vache qui rit (laughing cow) Cheddar cheese.

Nevertheless, this goes well with the broccoli I love so much. I cooked some pasta too and it's a meal for me already.

Ingredients:

• Pasta, cooked according to package
• Broccoli, cut into florets and blanched with 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

Cheese Sauce: (about 3 servings)

• 50g Butter
• 80g Cheese, shredded (I used Kraft (block) Cheddar)
• 150ml Milk (I used fresh milk)
• 2 tablespoon Flour

How to do it:

• Set cooked pasta and blanched broccoli aside.
• In a pot, melt the butter on low heat.
• Gradually add in the flour while whisking.
• Once the flour is while blended into the butter, whisk in the milk gradually.
• Bring to a boil.
• Whisk in the cheese till it melts.
• Add the desirable amount of cheese sauce to the pasta and broccoli.
• Toss and serve with additional Parmesan Cheese.

Note: If you find the sauce too thick to your liking, add in more milk.