{ Little Lunch Box #67 } 小饭盒

I made Egg Mayo Buns for my daughter last Thursday.  Okay, they are sandwiches shaped like buns.  They make eating egg mayo sandwiches a lot less messier as the fillings won't fall over over the place.  Works well with tuna fillings too.

I did it with the help of a tool - my daughter's toy cookie cutter, which I have 'stolen' from her a few years back. :P  You can use any round shape items, like bowl, cup, takeaway plastic container, etc., preferably with a thicker edge to help press on the breads and stick more securely.

Here are the steps to make the sandwich buns:

Place a heap of fillings in the middle of the bread.  You can make an impression of the ring that you will be using on the bread as a guide so the filling will not exceed the circle.

Place another piece of bread over it. DO NOT PRESS on it.  Instead, squeeze on the sides on the bread a little. 

Place the circle cutter or cup on the bump and continue pressing the sides to push more bread into the ring.  This is to help create a dome and to prevent the bread from stretching out and tearing when you press the ring later.

Press the ring down hard so the 2 pieces of bread will stick together.  Use a knife to cut away the excess bread outside the ring.

Remove the ring and you will see the end product, the bun sandwich.  You may serve it as it is or toast it in the oven for a crunchy bite.

It is best to use fresh bread or (store bought) bread not longer than 2 days old as the bread begins to dry a little and is not so stretchable.  The top bread will tends to tear.

Please do not throw away the excess bread.  You can use that to make breadcrumbs.

Fried Ginger Shreds

I made a container of Fried Ginger Shreds today.  I love to use this to top on dishes like Threadfin with Ginger Sauce, Frog Leg with Ginger and Scallion, Braised Chicken in Ginger, Porridge, etc.  I love to eat them as tibits too.

This reminds me of my confinement days.  The confinement lady knew I loved to munch on them, she made me a big container of it before she left.

You need to be really skillful in order to get thinly sliced ginger slice.  You will have a hard time frying thick shreds as it will brown on the outside but still raw inside.

I have shared how I cheated on shredding ginger years ago, here.  I'm sharing this again for those who loves these ginger shreds but had no idea how to do it thinly.  I even used this to slice Arrowhead to make chips during the Chinese New Year period.

You just need this magical tool.  It's magical to me cos I have this for years and it's still able to shred my skin off my hand if I'm not careful enough. :P

You just need use the peeler to slice out thin slices of ginger, then stack a few slices and julienne it.  That part, no more cheat tricks. You have to keep trying till you get it thin enough.

Fry the ginger shreds in batches on medium low heat till they turn lightly golden.  At this point, they will start to brown and burn very quickly, so remove them as fast as you can. If you have problems removing them fast, I suggest you pour everything out into a strainer.

You can return the oil back to the pan to continue frying the next batch.  Drain the fried ginger shreds on paper towel to remove excess oil. Store them in an airtight container once cooled.

Do not discard the oil.  You can use it to drizzle on your cooking just like how you use sesame oil.

{ Little Lunch Box #60 } 小饭盒

A few days ago, my daughter requested that I made her all time favourite burger for her lunch today as she has After School Programme.

The meat patty is a mixture of minced pork with fish paste. I added chopped coriander and diced crabstick to the mixture too. I also added some pepper to it. No further seasoning was added as fish paste is already seasoned. The patty is then pan-fried as it is with no panko or breadcrumbs.

Mushroom is my daughter's favourite. Hence I made some saute mushroom with only a pinch of salt and added it  to the burger with some Alfalfa Sprouts too.

The burger is secured together with a toothpick with an Edamame Bean at the end so the kids know about it.  And no! I don't have so many kids! The other 2 in the background were for her friends. My son will return home to eat this for lunch too.

By now, you must be mumbling to yourself, if I am ever going to talk about the carrier for the burger. Right? ;P

I ran out of burger box so I use the regular round containers that are used for take-aways to pack the burger.

I heated up a metal chopstick (Korean chopsticks) and poked it thru the bottom center of the container to make a hole. You can use a screwdriver and remember to clean the container after that.

Next, I tied a string (I'll use a nice ribbon if I had planned it earlier) so it's in a loop and pressed a date tag, used for bread, to the loop. You can tie a knot close to the tag. The loop is then threaded thru the hole from the inside of the container. 

Now the cover of the carrier is done.

I placed a piece of wax paper on the cover with the top of the cover facing down. The burger is place on it. Next, you cover it with the base of the container, which is now the cover.

Press it down to secure it. You know you have done so when the wax paper on the outside are all 'pointing upwards'. Having said that, please go ahead to double check. :)

The wax paper helps make the closure tighter and also help hold any liquid from the burger. There will be an indention when the cover is opened and the wax paper will look like a little bowl holding the burger. :)

If  you are worry that your kids do not know how to open it, just turn the container upside down and open the container the usual way. Then hold the flat cover over the container and turn it back to let the burger drop back onto the cover.

Just a tip here. Get the right size of container for your burger if you intend to do this. You don't want the burger to fall apart. :)

Try it out next time you pack food for your loved ones. :)

Collagen Stock 胶原蛋白汤底

Last week I shared a container of my homemade jello-like collagen-rich stock on Instagram and Facebook and had many people asking how it was done.

I was kinda taken by surprised as I thought many already knew how to do it. I have been making bone stock since my kids were toddlers, mainly using it as a base to make porridge or noodles for them.

I would make it large quantity and freeze them in individual containers and in ice cube trays meant for cooking. I will leave a bigger portion of the stock, kept in the fridge for the week too. This portion of broth in the fridge will turned jello-like when it's cold.

Since there are so many request for this, I will share how I do it in this post.

Basically there are 2 types of stock I made.  One that gives a yellowish clear broth, which requires about 4 hours of simmering. I usually use this to make porridge or vegetable soup.

The other type of stock will require a much longer cooking time, at least double the time required of the stock mentioned above or if possible, longer. It will also require a higher heat compared to the former in order to break down the marrow, calcium, minerals, etc, from the bones into the stock, hence turning it milky and opaque. I use this to make soup for my ramen.

My suggestion to make a slightly more than 3.5 litre broth requires 2 big pork bones, 2 chicken carcass and an optional 8 chicken feet for additional collagen to a pot of 5 litres of water.

I simmered it for the first 5 hours on the lowest heat and turn the heat slightly higher for the next 3 to 4 hours. You can stop cooking after 5 hours and still get the jello-like stock but it won't be milky and there won't be much 'sticky lip' effect from drinking soup make from the stock.

Whichever way you choose, it is very important that you always remember to blanch the bones first before making the stock. Otherwise, you will get a much darker stock instead of the clear or milky stock.

I usually place all the bones into a big pot with enough water covering all the bones and bring it to a boil. Once it start boiling, scum will form on the surface. Remove and clear the contents. Give the bones a rinse and add them to a fresh pot of water and begin to start making the stock.

Remember to keep skimming away the scum that forms on the surface during cooking so you get a clear stock.

Drain the stock from the bones and let it cool before you store them in the fridge or freezer. Once the stock congeal into jello-like form, you can use a spoon and to easily remove all the fats on the top, if you like.

At the end of all the hard work, you will be rewarded with a stock that is filled with collagen and minerals. It is rich and gelatinous and is good for making a bowl of soup, porridge or noodles, etc for your loved ones.

Additional Notes:

• You can add vegetables and or herbs during the cooking too.
• Use a pressure cooker if you have one to cut down the cooking time.
• Never add salt to the broth. Do it only when you use the stock for further cooking.

Cooking a perfect looking egg 煎一粒漂亮的荷包蛋

Last week I shared my dinner shots (below) on Facebook, some of my friends asked how I manage to cook it this way.

The egg white is soft, has no hard and brown bits, not rubbery and not oily. The egg yolk is runny like soft-boiled egg. ;)

My kids hate eating sunny side up (fried egg) that is hard at the bottom and the egg yolk dry. You won't get that with the eggs I do. ;)

I got to admit that I learned this little trick from a tv program many years ago and have since never fry an egg the usual way. What you need is just an extra tablespoon of water!

Interested to do it too? You don't have to wait further. Today, I'm going to share with you what I have learned; and with a video too!

The video is at the end of this post but first, here are the details and instructions:

Items needed:

• a non-stick pan with cover or lid
• 1/2 tablespoon (or lesser) Cooking Oil
• a piece Paper Towel
• 1 Egg (I'm using 60g refrigerated egg)
• 1 tablespoon Water

How to do it:

1. Use low heat. The pan should not be smoking at any time. *1
2. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.
3. Use a paper towel to remove excess oil and at the same time coat pan well with oil. *2
4. Crack egg onto the middle of the pan.
5. Let the egg cook for 40 seconds, still on low heat. *3
6. Tilt the pan a little. If more egg white spread out, let it cook a few seconds more. The thicker part of the egg white around the egg yolk will still remain raw. *4
7. Add water and cover the pan.
8. Let it cook for 45 seconds. *5
9. Remove cover.
10. Dish out and serve.

Note:

1. I'm using the highest heat on the inner small ring on my stove.
2. The idea is to coat the pan well with oil so the egg doesn't stick. We are not using the oil to fry the egg.
3. The timing used is according to the egg used. If you are using smaller or unrefrigerated egg, please shorten the time.
4. This is a little test to check if you are ready to add water. If the outer egg white (not the thick part near the egg yolk) is half cooked, it will spread when water in added and it will look ugly. Imagine egg drop soup :P
5. If you want the egg yolk more cooked, cook a few seconds longer.

And here's the video ...

Message on a Toast 吐司物语

I shared this a few years ago in my (inactive) kid's craft blog. As you can see there, the photos are also missing from Blogger and the unfortunate thing is, I didn't have a back-up for all my photos in that blog. :(

Since tomorrow is Mother's Day, ahem, I thought I would share with you how you can 'write' a short message on your toast. I bet this neat trick will surprise your mother or your father on the coming Father's Day. Oh! And it's a great way for guys who forget birthdays, anniversaries, any important dates, to 'say' sorry. Just don't use it twice. It won't work the second time. XD

Needless to say, it's a great idea for kid's lunchbox as well!

What is needed:

• 1 slice of old (not stale) bread
• Alphabet cookie cutters, assorted cookie cutters

How to do it:

1. Just press the cookie cutters on the bread.
2. Don't press too hard and cut out the shape. Just hard enough to get the shape imprinted on the bread.
3. Toast the bread in a toaster or oven at 180C for 7 mins, with imprint facing up.
4. Turn over and toast for another 5 mins or till lightly brown. 
5. If you are using frying pan, toast with the bread with the imprint, facing down. 
6. Toast on low heat. If it's too hot, the toast will get burnt.
7. If you like, turn over and toast till lightly brown.
8. Remove bread from frying pan once it has brown.
9. Use toast as normal.

Note:

• If you don't have cookie cutter, try using a chopstick with round end to 'write' in the bread using slight pressure.
• I used 1 day old bread because it's tougher than fresh ones. It won't be cut through as easily. However, using freshly baked bread is fine. Just be gentle. :)

PS. Have a very Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there!

Toasting Belacan 干炒峇拉煎

Belacan is made from fermented ground shrimp. It's in usually in a block form and is extremely pungent. Try cooking it and you house will be filled will the smell of belacan that doesn't seem to go away and your neigbours will probably smell it too! :P You either hate it or love it. And I love it! :P

You can only use belacan when it's cooked, so the best way (for me) is to cook the whole block of belacan so I will have ready belacan on hand and my place only smells once. :P

It's simple to 'cook' it but the process is a long one. Basically, you just need to chop the belacan into smaller pieces and dry-toast in on a pan, on medium low fire.

I keep using the the spatula to press on the belacan at first to 'mash' it and at the same time keep stirring it. Keep repeating till you start to see the belacan drying up. Stir it so it doesn't get burned. Continue stirring until all belacan is dried up and they start turning powdery and sandy.

The whole process takes about 25 - 30 mins. You can further grind it into fine powder if you want but as you can see from mine (below), the toasted belacan are like granules.

Oh! And don't be surprise on how much the block of belacan 'shrunk'. I appropriately only get about slight more than half from the original block of belacan.

Once it's cooled, you can store it in an air-tight container for future use.

Note:
I was told that light a candle next to where you toast the belacan can help minimum the spreading of the smell. You might want to give it a try next time when you do it. I will. :)

{ Bread Cup } 面包杯

I used to make bread cups by pressing the bread into the muffin tray. The bread cup is then used to fill with ingredients you like.

The disadvantage of the 'simpler' way is that there will be 'bread crease' and where there are creases, the bread will be thicker. What you need is have a few cuts on the bread and it will solve the problem.

Basically, you will need just a baking cup or muffin tray. To make things easier, I use an additional tool, a circle cookie cutter (actually, it my kids' play dough cutter. I 'stole' it from them :P). I used it to leave an impression on the bread, for 2 purposes. First, as a guide on where I should cut the bread and second to make it easier to press the bread into the baking cup. The impression on the bread makes it easier to fold and fit into the baking cup.


Please take note that the circle cutter have to be smaller than the inside of the baking cup, in order for it to work. The bigger the circle cutter is, the wider the bread cup will be.

Once the bread is fitted into the baking cup, toast it for 5 to 8 mins at 180C and the bread cup is really to be filled with your favourite fillings! If you are not re-toasting the bread cup after adding the fillings, You might want to toast it longer to get it slightly more brown. It's your preference. 

I did two different bread cups with two different fillings here. The Egg Bread Cup is filled with chopped hard-boiled egg, topped with cheese and baked for 7mins. The bread cup has the corners trimmed-off. You can add mayonnaise to the chopped egg to turn it into egg mayo. My daughter doesn't want mayo. She wanted it to be toasted with cheese as the topping. Fussy kids, I have. :P

The Tuna Bread Cup has tuna in it (obviously). My son requested for it to be toasted, again, which resulted with the edges being more brown. I originally thought of just filling it with tuna without re-toasting. Hence, I had the bread cup toasted longer. But alas...  Another point for you to take note for. :) Oh! The corners for the Tuna Bread Cup were left as it was, just to let you have another option.

Please refer to the slide show below for the steps on how I did the bread cup to get a better picture. Click on the photo to expand it for a clearer view.

How to crack open a coconut 打破椰子壳的方法

Not to long ago, my friend, Sha, asked me how to open up a coconut for its juice. Maybe, there was some mis-communication somewhere in our conversation, she ended up with lesser juice than expected and a damaged cleaver. :P

Hence, I made a simple video on how it is done. This is specially for you, Sha! ;)

To make the video shorter, I have cracked the coconut slight first. The coconut I bought was without the husk. If you are from Singapore, you can get them is some wet markets, NTUC and Shop N Save.

Sadly, there wasn't much choice for me to choose from today. So the coconut I bought, as seen in the video, was a bit old. Hence, the pulp was thick and hard and slightly more difficult to open. I should have used the coconut used in the photo above instead.Younger coconut will have very tender pulp which is very nice to eat. :)

The steps to crack open the coconut is as follows:

1. With one hand firmly holding the coconut, hit it with the back of the cleaver. Very important to make sure noone is behind or beside you!!
2. Turn the coconut around and continue to hit on it until you see a crack-line around the coconut.
3. An 'old' coconut will have thick and hard pulp. Don't force it open with your hands. You will end up having coconut juice splashing all over.
4. Use a fork or spoon to poke in-between the crack-line into the coconut.
   
5. Twist a little to force open the coconut.
6. You can now drain out the coconut juice from the opening.
7. Open up the 'top' of the empty coconut to scrape out the pulp.
8. If you have problem opening up the coconut, use a knife to cut the pulp first.
9. You will be able to open up the coconut easily now.

Note:

• You can control how big the opening you want by hitting on a position of the coconut. Hit it closer to the top, you have have a smaller opening. It's good if you want to drink the juice straight from the coconut.
• Hit it on the position about 1/3 from the top, you will have a larger opening. Good if you want to scrape out the pulp.

Here's the video as mentioned ...

Now, I'm off to crack some coconuts to make coconut jellies. :D

Enjoy!

Blanched Chinese Flowering Cabbage

You might notice that I cook my vegetables by blanching them. They usually turn out looking nicer then stir fried. I never really like to stir frying leafy vegetables. Maybe I don't have the skills. ;p

They are always either over or under cooked. Sometimes, part of the veggie is cooked but another part under cooked. Plus, I hate how the dish of veggies always looked so 'messy'. :P

After a few times of unsuccessful stir-frying of veggies, I turned to blanching them and have stick to that method till now. Except now, on lazy days, I turned to use my Sharp Water Oven. My veggies always comes out perfect, if not tastier.

This Chinese Flowering Cabbage or Cai Xin 菜心 as we commonly call it, is cooked on less lazy day, ie, blanching method. :P This is really easy and fast to do, plus you have a dish of nicely cooked veggies too.

Just add a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of oil in a pot of water enough to cover the vegetable to boil. Once the water is boiling, put the stems of the Cai Xin 菜心 in first. If you, like me prefer not to cut your Cai Xin 菜心 in sections, let them 'stand' with the stems in hot water. You hold on to the leaves, with gloves lah. After 2 minutes, turn off the heat and submerge the whole vegetables in the hot water for another minute. If you like your Cai Xin 菜心 to be softer, then let it cook with the heat on.

Now, here's the trick. If you are adding the Cai Xin 菜心 to further stir-frying later, like adding some mushroom with sauce, when your family are all home for dinner, then plunge the Cai Xin 菜心 into ice water to stop further cooking. So later when you are ready to complete the dish, you just have to add them to the sauce, stir-fry a little and you are ready to serve it. It helps cut down lots of cooking time, especially if you are a couple more dishes to cook. The best part of this method is that the vegetables still looks very green!

For this particular dish, I just plunged the Cai Xin 菜心 in previously boiled cooled water as I was to serve it in 20 minutes time without further stir-frying. I don't want to serve cold veggies. I just drizzle some light soy sauce and top some dry-fried dried white bait on it for that extra flavour and crunch. And that's done.

Home-made Yong Tau Foo in Sweet Broth 自制酿豆腐汤底

I friend asked if I know how to make fish balls. Yeah, I did a couple of times. That was when I just moved to my place and didn't know there is a stall in the wet market selling fish paste. The ready-made fish balls in the supermarket didn't smell and taste good so I decided to get my hands all sticky with fish paste.

Nowadays, I buy ready-made fish paste to save me the hassle of making my own. But since I was asked, I thought I should really try it again to make sure I still know how to make it. I prefer to use 西刀鱼. (Sorry I don't know the English name for this fish. Anyone who does, please enlighten me. Thanks.) (A sweet reader has kindly send me the link on this fish. It's called Ikan Parang aka Whitefin wolf-herring. Thanks, HL.) 西刀鱼 sweeter but has lots of tiny bones which is not a good choice if it's given to kids.

I'm using Mackerel with is commonly used. You can also ask your fishmongers for suggestions. They will know. Basically most fishes that can be made into paste, except for oily fishes like Cod. The only thing that defers is the taste and not as bouncy as those you buy off the shelf.

It's easy if you have a blender at home. Just ask your fishmongers to debone and remove the skin of the fish for you. The bones and skin you can keep to make fish broth. You then chop the fish meat into smaller pieces and throw into the blender to blend into a smooth paste. You can add some salt and pepper if you like. Some people I know add some cornflour to it but I didn't as I think the paste can hold quite well. If you don't have a blender at home, then you will need a strong arm. Just follow these steps:

1. Slice open the fish with skin still on but bones removed. The skin is used as a base to let you scrap off the very last bit of fish meat.
2. Scrape the meat with a metal spoon.
3. Add some salt and pepper.
4. Smash the meat (I use a tenderiser but it can be messy) using a spoon against the bowl. This is where the strong arm takes it's role.
5. Smash the meat till it become a smooth paste, not even bits of fish meat insight.
6. Make sure the fish meat becomes paste-like. 
7. Now lift the paste and throw in on the chopping board of bowl, whichever you are working with. Throw a few times (a good way to vent your frustrations :P) 
8. Dust about 1 tablespoon of corn flour and mix it well with the fish paste and it's ready.
9. To do the fish balls, get ready a bowl of water.
10. Hold some paste in your palm, squeeze it gentle closing your finger into a fist.
11. Give more space for your thumb and forefinger (close up like an 'O').
12. As you close the other 3 fingers, the paste will squeeze out from the top.
13. Use a spoon to scoop out and place them in the water to prevent sticking together.

I used the paste to stuff into bean curd, tau pok, ladies' finger and also to wrapped with bean curd skin. You can also use it to stuff eggplant, bitter gourd, chili, mushroom, etc. Just like what you see in the Yong Tau Foo aka 酿豆腐 stall. You can try my very own Dual Coloured Tofu with Fish Paste with it too! *wink*

I made my Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐 broth by brewing 150g Soya Bean 黄豆 with 70g Ikan Bilis 江鱼仔 for 2 hours or till the Ikan Bilis turn opaque. Sieve it and the broth is ready to be used.

To make a nice bowl of Home-made Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐 in Soup, just have a pot of broth, add in your Home-made Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐 and other ingredients you like (I have added crabsticks) and bring to a boil. Add in the vegetable during the last minute of cooking. Scoop out into a bowl, topped with some fried garlic, shallot and sesame seed oil and enjoy!

Note:

Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐 originated from the Chinese Ethic group, Hakka, and is very common in Singapore.

* the stuffed and fish ball *

* the Fish Paste *

* The stars in the making of the sweet broth *

* Home-made 酿豆腐 in sweet and tasty broth *

The Natural Toner - Rose Water

You must be wondering why am I having a post on Toner. Isn't that a beauty thingy? I know this is a food blog but I have to share this because the weather nowadays is terrible and I thought our skin needs feeding of 'natural food' too.

Few years ago, there was this grand opening of a beauty parlour at my place and they were having this one time trial promotion at a very cheap rate. During that time, I only had a child and since it was only 5 minutes from my place, I asked my husband to help took care of my son and I went. That was the last time I went for a facial.

Anyway, while I was there, I happened to overhear a customer telling her beautician than she uses Rose Water as a 'toner' and drinks Rose Water as part of her beauty regime. Hmm.... Since I don't even follow the proper cleansing routine (yeah, I just washes my face with soap. :p), I thought I'll try that.

I understands from the Medical Hall people that Rose Water is consider a mild astringent. Hence, it a good form of toner as it helps to firm and tone the skin as well as moisturises it. And best of all it doesn't cause dryness because it doesn't contain alcohol. If I'm not to lazy, I'll even make a separate pot of Rose Water for drinking. Seriously, I'm not sure how effective is it but I sure save a lot of money on the Evian Atomiser.

Ingredients for Rose Water as a Toner:

• 10 Rose Buds
• 250ml Distilled Water

How to do it:

1. Rinse rose bud and put them in a cup.
2. Bring water to a boil.
3. Pour over rose bud.
4. Cover the cup and let it stand for 20 minutes.
5. Drain and let it cool.
6. Empty to a spray bottle.
7. Refrigerate if you like and use up in 3 days.

Note:
If you do not have a spray bottle, use it as normal. Just pat some rose water to your face after cleansing.

For Rose Water Beauty Drink:
In addition to the ingredients for Rose Water Toner, add 4 pieces of dried Hawthorn fruits and rock sugar to the water for taste. Normal drinking water can be used here. As usual, add them to the rose buds when it boils. You don't have to strain it out first. You can drink it like tea. The longer you let it stand in the pot/cup, the strong the drink will be.

Note:

• Hawthorn fruits contains antioxidant properties in case you are wondering why it's added it.
• You can use honey instead of rock sugar if you like.
  
  
  

* Beauty Rose Water *