{ Breakfast : Ham and Cheese Sandwich }

The kids made their own breakfast today.  They had Pizza Bread and had some ingredients left.

I stir-fried the leftover button mushroom with a little butter and seasoned it with a pinch of salt.  In the same pan, I did some Caramelised Onion.  I added those two items to my ham and cheese sandwich while it's hot so they could melt the cheese a little. ^_^

I did a Crabstick and Corn Salad with the remaining kanimi surimi and corn to go with my sandwich.  I topped the salad with the tobiko left from dinner two days ago.

This got to be one of my favourite breakfasts 'cos it has got everything that I love; even though they were made from leftovers.

{ Dinner : Kani Maki with Wakame Eggroll }

Made this simple dinner for the kids last night. 

It was inspired by a post I saw on Instagram. I stacked up reverse Kani Maki supposedly to make it looked like a Xmas Tree. :P

The eggroll has wakame and the balance kani surimi I used for the maki and lightly seasoned with vegetarian oyster sauce.

I'll be away on a trip with my family on Saturday and will be back only on 22 December. I'm trying to clear what ever housework I have, as well as to get the kids' stuff ready for school next year before the trip. Hence, the lack of recipe posts. I'll be sharing more recipes when I'm back, that is, after clearing the after trip laundry. (Already beginning to hate at thoughts of it. :P)

Meanwhile, have a good week everyone!

{ Breakfast : Pancakes }

As mentioned in my last post, I don't have a habit of taking heavy breakfast and won't be able to finish what I prepared for the kids.  I'm having mini bite-size pancake. It's about 2 palm size pancakes here. I have it with a small bowl of salad with shredded ham and a glass of juice.

I'm using Morinaga Pancake Mix but a added a tablespoon sugar, half teaspoon yeast and baking powder to the batter and let it rest while I make the kids' breakfast.

The pancake turnout really airy and fluffy. I drizzled my pancake with a little maple syrup and chocolate sauce and served it with some fruits.

{ Breakfast: Pancake with Egg, Sausage and Bacon }

This morning's breakfast was Pancakes with whatever I'm trying to clear in the fridge. :P

I bought 2 boxes of button mushroom a few days ago but did not store them properly and they were all bruised and turning brown. So my daughter was happy that she's having her favourite mushroom soup again.

The bacon was expiring soon, so I had to clear that too. I added an egg (with a runny yolk) and a couple of sausages too.

This was the kids' breakfast. I can't eat this much for breakfast. I'm just having some simple fluffy pancakes.

Churros with Chocolate Sauce 切洛斯

I made one of my favourite snacks, Churro, today.  I wished it was commonly available. 

I don't really enjoy making it because it's so difficult to squeeze out hot dough. :( Always remember to wrap a cloth around the piping bag when you are doing it to avoid being burned.

I used some remaining dough that was too difficult to pipe out and make them into balls. We all love those as it's was a lot more easier to eat. One ball each mouth!

These churros  are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Can't stop at one!

Ingredients:

• 250ml Water
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 125g All-Purpose Flour, sifted
• 2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Oil
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Put flour in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
2. Combine water, sugar, salt and oil in a saucepan.
3. Bring it to a boil.
4. Pour it over the flour.
5. Stir till a smooth dough is formed and it separates from the sides of the bowl.
6. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag with a large star tip.
7. Pipe into hot oil.
8. Alternatively, pipe on baking paper.
9. Drop the piped dough with the baking paper into the oil then remove the paper.
10. Deep fry till they float up on the oil and turns golden brown.
11. Drain on paper towels.
12. Coat with Cinnamon sugar or serve with melted chocolate.

Notes:

• I melt some semi-bitter chocolate bits with some fresh milk using steam bath method. I didn't weigh the chocolate chips as I just used what I thought is enough. It's about 5 tablespoon of chocolate bit and 1 tablespoon milk to thin it.
• The mixing of Cinnamon Sugar as based on estimation too. More sugar and less Cinnamon powder. Adjust according to your taste.

{ Lunch : Pot Stickers }

Last night I fell asleep on the sofa. Woke up at 6.30am this morning. I didn't know what came over me but I just had this thought of making dumplings. I'm not craving for it. I just want to make it. Strange but I went to the wet market to get the ingredients anyway and it was raining!

I made the kids their breakfast and started making the dumplings. THEN I thought to myself, why not have pot stickers as lunch instead of dinner? So pot stickers it is for lunch. :P

It's a strange day for me.

Braised Noodle aka Lor Mee 卤面

Lor Mee is my daughter's favourite local food. I love it to, especially with raw garlic, pickled green chilli and lots of black vinegar!

During the olden days, it has shark's meat it in. Nowadays, to make is simple, beaten egg white is used instead. The recipe I'm sharing is not authentic but it's good enough for my family.

I added crispy fried bean curd skin and ready made Ngoh Hiang to it too.

Ingredients:

• 600g Yellow (flatten) Noodles
• 300g Pork Belly
• 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
• 2 Egg White or 2 Whole Egg, beaten
• Some Bean Sprout

Braising Sauce:

• 500ml Water
• 3 clove Garlic, smashed with skin intact
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce

Soup Sauce:

• 1.5 litre Pork Bone Stock
• 1 Star Anise
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese 5-spice Powder
• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sugar or to taste
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)

How to do it:

1. Combine ingredients for braising sauce together in a pot enough to cover the pork.
2. Add in pork belly and hard boiled eggs.
3. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
4. Braise for an hour till the pork is tender.
5. Remove the pork and cut into smaller pieces.
6. Remove the eggs and half them.
7. Retain the braising sauce.
8. Bring the bone stock to  a boil.
9. Add in the braising sauce, star anise and 5-spice powder.
10. Season with sugar and salt.
11. Thicken with cornflour mixture.
12. Turn off the heat and gently stir in the beaten egg white.
13. The soup sauce is ready to be used.
14. Blanch some noodles and bean sprout.
15. Drain and pour into a serving bowl.
16. Pour hot soup sauce over and top with pork belly, egg and other ingredients.
17. Serve immediately.

Note：

• You can use chicken stock instead of pork bone stock.

Pan Roasted Char Siew 叉烧

Last week I made Char Siew Rice during one dinner.  The kids are not fans of Char Siew so I make them something else.

The Char Siew was done using my Happy Call grill pan. However you can use any non-stick pan with a lid on. It's relatively quite easy to make but you have watch over it to prevent the char siew from burning.

I'm using the lowest heat I can get on my burner so I can roast the meat longer to make it tender without burning it. Have hot water on hand and if you find the sauce drying up, thin it by adding some hot water to continue cooking it.

This works well with ribs too. You don't really need an oven to do it. If you love to have ribs for this coming Christmas but do not have an oven, you might want to try this pan roasting method.

Ingredients:

• 500g Shoulder Butt Pork (pork with a bit more fats is preferred)
• 2 tablespoon Maltose
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 100ml + additional 50ml Water

How to do it:

1. Combine all ingredients, except water, together.
2. Marinate for at least an hour.
3. Pour the marinate into the pan and add 100ml water.
4. Bring the sauce to a boil.
5. Add in the meat and cook on all sides first.
6. Reduce heat to low.
7. Cover the pan and continue cooking for 45 mins.
8. Turn the meat every 10 mins to coat it well with sauce as well as to prevent it from burning at the bottom.
9. Turn it more often when sauce reduced and starts to thickened. Add a bit more water if necessary to prevent the sauce from burning which will makes it bitter.
10. Remove the meat and set aside to let it cool before slicing it.
11. Add in the remanding water to thin the sauce.
12. You can use the sauce to drizzle over the char siew or rice.

Note:

• Do not replace maltose with sugar as sugar will turn hard when it's cooled, which in turn, makes the meat hard. If you do not have maltose, you can use honey instead.
• Amount of water added depends on how fast your sauce thickens. Every stove is different. Hence, the low heat/fire might be different. I have lower the fire on my stove to the lowest I can get.
• Happy Call Pan has a wider cooking area hence the sauce will dries and thicken faster. If you are using a smaller pot or pan, you might need to reduce the amount of water added at first. Please adjust accordingly.