Macaroni with Mushroom and Cheese

Recipe for Macaroni with Mushroom and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 80g Pasta
• 1 glove Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon Butter
• 8 Cremini Mushroom aka Brown Swiss Mushrooms, sliced
• 180ml - 200ml Cooking Cream
• 2 handful Mixed Shredded Cheese

How to do it:

1. Cook pasta in lightly salted water and according to the package's instructions.
2. Drain and set aside in baking dish.
3. In a pan, add in butter.When butter started to melt, add in garlic.
4. Saute till fragrant. Garlic should be soften but not brown.
5. Add in mushroom and continue cooking for about a minute.
6. Pour in cooking cream.
7. Cooking till mushroom have absorb the liquid and the cream has thicken a little.
8. Add a pinch of salt.
9. Pour over the cooked pasta.
10. Give it a gentle toss or just mix a little so the mushroom will get mixed around with the pasta.
11. Top the pasta with cheese.
12. Bake at preheat oven at 240c for 10mins or till cheese brown.
13. Remove and serve immediately.

Note:

• I'm using straight macaroni so the portion looks small but it is very compact.  Hence, although the portion seems little but is just nice for one person (but very filling for me).  Use your favourite pasta if you like. :)
• You can add cooked (grilled/fried) chicken or fish with or without the mushroom.  Seafood would nice too.

as seen in https://instagram.com/p/2VTEEKgdKp/

{ Lunch: Fried Rice with Cauliflower and Squid }

My lunch on Friday ...

I bought a squid with roe on Thursday and marinated it for over night.  I had some leftover small shrimps that I have to clear for the week and also some cauliflower from my daughter's lunchbox.  All these assembled and became my lunch.

Simple Fried Rice with Egg, Peas and Shrimps

Baked Cauliflower tossed in Curry, Paprika and Parmesan Cheese

Oven Grilled Squid with roe in Miso

Lunch: Fried Rice with Cauliflower and Squid

{ Lunch: Origini }

I had some leftover rice, so I made origini for lunch.

I took an egg and made egg roll with sakura ebi and miso soup.  I stole some enoki mushroom and clams which I will be cooking for dinner tonight for the miso soup. :P

I also had a small heap of shredded cabbage, cucumber, crab stick and cherry tomatoes and edamame beans to go with the meal. I made a miso dressing (cos I'm sharing ingredients) to go with the salad.

And all I wanted was to just clear the leftover rice.

Miso Ramen

Few days ago, I made Miso Ramen served with added Lava Egg, Crabstick and Corn.  I shared it on Instagram and Facebook and had requests for the recipe.

So here's my simple recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 litre Homemade Chicken or Pork Stock
• 1/2 tablespoon Instant Dashi Powder
• 1 tablespoon Mirin
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Miso Paste

How to do it:

1. Bring stock to a simmer.
2. Add dashi powder, mirin and light soy sauce.
3. Add in the miso paste and dissolve it in the soup.
4. The soup is ready to be added to a separately cooked ramen.

Note:

• Cook ramen separately and pour the soup base over when it's done.
• I'm using homemade stock here. If you are using steady stock, please adjust the seasoning accordingly as steady stock are usually seasoned.
• The ingredients that are served with the ramen is up to individual. You can served it bare too.
  Check out the Shoyu Based Soup HERE.

Ika Meshi

Super short post here cos I'm busy busy busy today.  Taking a break to share some food here.

I made some glutinous rice stuffed squid, better known as Ika Meshi, for dinner.  If you like what you see, hop over HERE to the write up on how it is done.

Okay, I'm going back to my kitchen to continue cooking stare at the Ika Meshi!

{ 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!

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.

Hor Fun 河粉

Hor Fun is one of the common local zichar food. My husband tried cooking for me once many years ago but the hor fun ended up in the trash bin.  LOL Shhhh .... don't tell him I told you. :P He hasn't cook anything since except maybe instant noodle and only once in a blue moon. :/

Too be fair to him, I did struggle with the frying of the kway tiow (hor fun) at first. You need to add enough oil and have to work fast otherwise it doesn't brown evenly and may get burn on some parts where other parts are still white.

Honestly, I think cooking Hor Fun is a lot harder than it looks especially at home with a small wok and fire. My tip for first timers, fry in small portion. If you can get thru frying the kway tiow, the rest is easy peasy. 

Ingredients:

• 300g Hor Fun aka Thick Flat Rice Noodles, separated
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• a few drop Dark Soy Sauce

Other Ingredients:

• 5 slices Loin Pork
• 4 Prawns, shelled and sliced on the back
• 1 Squid, cleaned and cut into smaller pieces
• 3 stalk Young Choy Sum
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Corn Flour
• 1/2 tablespoon Minced Garlic

Sauce:

• 500ml Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 Egg White or 1 Whole Egg, beaten
• Cornflour Mixture as thickener

How to do it:

1. Heat wok with a tablespoon oil.
2. Stir-fry Hor Fun tossed with light and dark soy sauce.
3. Continue frying till the hor fun are well blended with the sauces. The hor fun should be brown and a little charred at the sides.
4. Dish out and place in a serving plate to be used later.
5. Meanwhile, marinate the pork with light soy sauce, wine and corn flour. This is to make the pork velvety.
6. At the same time, blanch the choy sum in a pot of water with 1 teaspoon oil. This is to give the choy sum some shine.
7. Drain and place the choy sum with hor fun.
8. In the same wok used to stir-fry the hor fun, add 1 teaspoon oil.
9. Stir-fry garlic till fragrant but not brown.
10. Add in the pork and stir-fry till they are just done.
11. Dish and place on top of hor fun.
12. Pour stock in the wok and bring to a boil.
13. Add in the prawn and squid.
14. Add in all the seasoning for the sauce except for egg and cornflour mixture.
15. Gradually stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce to your desire consistency.
16. Turn off the heat then gently stir in the beaten egg. Stirring vigorously will break up the beaten egg and make the sauce cloudy.
17. Pour the sauce over the hor fun and serve.

Note:

• The use of "toppings" depends on your preference. You can use fish slices, fish cake, etc instead.
• Hor Fun is usually served with pickled green chilli.

Prawn Noodles in Soup (with Prime Ribs) 虾面汤

This is one of our favourite local noodles. I personally loves the rich prawn soup stock. I don't eat it as often as prawn is high in cholesterol especially since the heads are used to make the stock. However, I'll still eat it once a while.

To make the stock for this, you will need lots of prawn heads and shells. I will always keep the heads and shells when I buy prawns for my cooking.  Rinse and dab dry prawns first before peeling them. If you rinse the heads and shells later, you risk the roe, which will give the stock flavours, being rinsed away. Plus, you will have a hard time dabbing them dry.

Freeze the prawn heads and shells you collected and when you have enough, you can use them together to make stock as there's no way you will be able to get so much prawn heads and shells at one go.

I'm sharing here an update recipe of Prawn Noodles in Soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• approximately 500g Prawn Heads and Shells
• 400g Prime Pork Ribs, blanched
• 2.5 litre Hot Water
• 4 clove Garlic, crush and chopped coarsely
• 12 medium to large Prawns
• a bunch of Kang Kong aka Water Spinach
• some sliced fishcake
• some Bean Sprout (I didn't add as my kids didn't like it)
• 600g Yellow (Round) Noodles

Seasonings:

• 2 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Rock Sugar or Brown Sugar
• a few drops of Dark Soy Sauce for colour
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional Condiments:

• Fried Crunchy Pork Lard
• Shallot with Oil
• Chilli Powder

How to do it:

1. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in pot.
2. Saute garlic till fragrant.
3. Add in the prawn heads and shells.
4. Stir fry till the heads and shells turn red and you can smell the flavours.
5. If you have a potato masher, use it to press on the heads to help release more flavours. Use are wooden spatula if you don't have a masher.
6. Add in the hot water.
7. Blanch the prawns and set aside.
8. Return the heads and shells to the stock if you want to serve the prawns peeled.
9. Add in the pork ribs. (check out how the ribs will be like here.)
10. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking for 2 - 3 hours.
11. Strain and return rib to the stock.
12. Add in the seasonings and the soup stock is ready.
13. To serve, blanch noodles and vegetables and set in a bowl.
14. Place prawns on top and pour soup stock over.
15. Garnish with condiments and serve.

Note:

• Soup stock serves about 4 to 5 portions.
• If you do not intend to eat the prime ribs, use normal pork ribs meant for making soup. You can use chicken carcass instead too.
• If no prime ribs are used, you may want to add some lean pork. Blanch them first and then cook it together with the prawns. Remove when it's just cooked and sliced for later use.

Seafood Noodles Soup 海鲜面汤

This is my idea of a lazy meal. Everything can be prepared ahead to be served later.

For busy people out there, I suggest this preparing earlier and keep the soup stock hot in a thermal pot. Heat it up and at the same time blanch the cooked seafood in the stock to heat it up before serving.

Ingredients for Soup Stock:

• 2 litre Water
• 3 Chicken Carcass (2 if your chicken carcass is big), blanched
• 2 piece Dried Sole Fish 扁鱼干, deep fried till golden brown
• 1 tablespoon Mince Garlic
• 4 Shallot, chopped or sliced

Seasonings:

• 2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon  Chicken Powder (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Additional Ingredients:

• 600g Flat Yellow Noodles, for 3 to 4 servings
• Seafood of your choice
• A bunch of Choy Sum, cut into sections.

How to do it:

1. Prepare all the seafood that you will be using by cleaning and/or cutting them into smaller pieces.
2. For prawns, peel the shells leaving the heads and tails intact if you like. Retain the shells for stock.
3. Have a small pot of water boiling.
4. Add a pinch of salt.
5. Blanch all seafood till just done. You can do it in batches; not all at once.
6. Do not not over cook the seafood.
7. Strain and set seafood aside.
8. Sieve the stock and set aside to be used later.
9. Add a tablespoon of oil in a pot.
10. Stir fry garlic and onion till fragrant.
11. Add in the prawn shells and stir fry till all turned red.
12. Pour in the reserved seafood stock, if using, chicken carcass, fried sole fish and water to make up 2 litres.
13. Bring stock to a boil before reducing to a simmer
14. Simmer for an hour.
15. Add in the the seasonings.
16. Stock is now ready to be used.
17. To serving, boil a pot of water.
18. Blanch some Choy Sum before blanching about 150g noodles.
19. Drain and place in a bowl.
20. Place previously prepare seafood over the noodles.
21. Pour hot soup stock over.
22. Serve with coriander and red cut chilli if desire.

Note:

• If you are not going to eat the vegetable stems, add them to the stock for simmering. They add sweetness to the stock too.
• If you want more soup, increase the amount of water used and adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Hokkien Prawn Noodles 福建虾面

This is not to be confused with any other Hokkien Mee. It is THE Singapore Hokkien Prawn Noodle.  It's my son's favourite hawker food. Even my daughter likes it too.

Those we have in hawker center are always cooked in pork lard which make it very fragrant and tasty. I'm not a fan hence I'm not adding it. If you like that, fry about 2 tablespoon of pork lard and use the oil for the cooking. Add the fry pork lard for extra crunch.

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

• 100g Thick Rice Vermicelli 粗米粉
• 80g Yellow Noodle
• 1 Squid, head, innards and 'skin' removed
• 4-5 Prawn
• 1 thin strip about 30g Pork Belly
• a handful Bean Spout (I had the head and tail removed)
• Some Chinese Chive 韭菜
• 1 Egg
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 250ml Chicken Stock

How to do it:

1. Blanch squid (tube), prawn and pork belly in stock till almost cooked.
2. Remove and cut squid into rings, shell the prawns and cut pork belly into smaller pieces.
3. Set them aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and stir-fry garlic till fragrant.
5. Push the garlic aside in the wok.
6. Crack egg and scramble it.
7. Add in both the rice and yellow noodles.
8. Add in 1 tablespoon fish sauce.
9. Stir-fry in middle high heat for a few minutes.
10. Add stock to the noodles.
11. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes.
12. Add the blanched prawns, squid rings and pork belly.
13. Add in bean sprout and Chinese chive.
14. Continue stir-frying till sauce has reduced and thickened.
15. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce or according to taste.
16. Stir fry well.
17. Dish and serve with Sambal Chilli and Calamansi.

Flower Crab with Glass Noodles 花蟹冬粉

I had always wanted to try Crab with Tang Hoon aka Glass Noodles. I never had the chance; mainly because of the kids. Hence, to date I do not know how it tasted like. :P

I decided to do a trail on error for this dish and it turn out to become my son's favourite. He skipped his usual dinner and finished this whole lot, excepting the crab.

My food reviewer (husband :P) said my version is more like what he had in China which is a bit saucey. Those in Singapore are drier and the tang hoon is more fragrant. However, he thought it was pretty tasty. ^^  It will be better if dark soy sauce was added though to give the tang hoon more colour. I didn't notice that I had run out of it.  Next time, it will be better. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Crab Crab, cleaned and chopped into 4 parts
• 100g Glass Noodles aka Tang Hoon
• 4 slices Ginger
• 3 clove Garlic, chopped

Seasonings:

• 1/2 teaspoon White Pepper1 tsp chicken seasoning powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp dark soya sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 500ml Chicken Stock (reduce if you prefer it drier)
• Salt to taste.

How to do it:

1. Soak tang hoon till it's soften.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat wok with a tablespoon oil.
4. Stir fry ginger and garlic till fragrant.
5. Add in the crabs.
6. Stir-fry till crab turns red.
7. Add in the seasonings except for salt.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. Add in the tang hoon.
10. Simmer for about 10-15 mins to let the tang hoon absorb the sauce and flavour.
11. Stir fry to evenly cook the tang hoon.
12. Add salt to taste if necessary.
13. Serve immediately.

Fried Noodle Wrapped Prawns 脆炸面卷虾

I have shared this recipe a few years ago. I seldom make this as we prefer prawns steamed, grilled, and especially cooked with salted eggs.

I happened to have half a pack of instant noodle so I thought it would be nice for a change since we have not had this for a while; with an updated recipe. ;)

If you do not like to eat or suck on the prawn heads or you intent to keep it for stock making, you can leave it out. The results will look like what I have done previously. You can have a look HERE.

Ingredients:

• 8 medium Prawns, shelled leaving head and tail intact
• 1/2 pack Instant Noodles
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Chicken Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder or 1 clove Garlic, grated
• a dash of Pepper
• a pinch of Salt
• Corn flour for dusting
• Egg, beaten
• Oil of frying

How to do it:

1. Cook the instant noodle is salted water.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Remove the intestinal tract using a toothpick or slit the prawn on the back and belly to remove.
4. Marinate with cooking wine, chicken powder, pepper and salt for 5 minutes.
5. Dust prawns with corn flour.
6. Dip in beaten egg.
7. Pick up some cooked instant noodles and coil around the prawns.
8. Have enough oil to in a pot to cover the prawns.
9. When oil is hot, fry till noodle turned golden brown and prawn turned red.
10. Drain on paper towel.
11. Serve with your preferred sauce.

Note:

• You can skip steps 5 and 6 if you like. However, the prawns will be a bit drier.
• You can use fresh noodle (like those wanton noodles) to replace instant noodles.
• My dipping sauce consist of a mixture of apple cider, sugar, worcestershire sauce and sesame oil.

Yellow Noodle Soup with Prawn 鲜虾面汤

During one of those days that I ran out of ideas on what to cook, this will be it. :P

My parents used to make this using chicken and dried shrimps as the soup base.  So it's Noodle Soup with Chicken. :P  My husband hates dried shrimps so my recipe omits that. Instead, I use chicken bones, prawns shells, Choy Sum stem (since noone except me likes it) and sometimes with a few dried scallops.

I usually make the soup stock first and keep it hot in the thermal pot. When we are ready to eat, just blanch the noodle then add in the soup. Easy. :)

Ingredients:

• 400g Flat Yellow Noodles
• a bunch of Choy Sum, cut into sections
• 8-10 medium Prawns; depending on how many prawns you want to serve withthe noodles

Soup Stock:

• 2 litre Water
• 2 Chicken Carcass, chopped into 2
• 2 clove Garlic, smashed

Seasonings:

• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Saute the garlic with a little oil till fragrant.
2. Blanch chicken carcass to remove scum.
3. Add chicken carcass and garlic into a fresh pot of water.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Add prawn and cook for 30 seconds.
6. Remove and shell the prawns.
7. Set the prawns aside and return the prawn heads and shells to the pot.
8. Continue to simmer for at least an hour.
9. Add in the choy sum stalks if you like.
10. Cook till stalks have softened.
11. Drain the soup stock.
12. Add seasonings to taste.
13. Keep in hot in a thermal pot if necessary.
14. When ready to eat, boil a pot of water.
15. Grab some noodles and blanch in boiling water.
16. Drain the noodles.
17. Place some choy sum in a bowl then pour the blanched noodle over.
18. Top with previously cooked prawns.
19. Pour over hot soup stock and serve.

Flower Crab Porridge 花蟹粥

I'm sure most of you know how to make porridge. Rice grains plus water and boil till the grains break up.

However, that's not how I usually makes my porridge.  I make porridge using cooked rice and I have been doing it since my kids started eating porridge. My aunt told me that this way of making porridge is better (for kids) as it causes less wind. Err ... I'm not quite sure about the wind part. I only find it easier to make especially flavoured ones, for this instance, Flower Crab Porridge. I find time use to cook the porridge using cooked rice is shorter and not to messy to eat.

The one question we always have when we make porridge is, how much water is need? Usually it will be an estimation. If the porridge is drying p during cooking add more water or scoop out the excess water. Right? It's easy if you are making plain porridge but if you are making making say flavoured ones, adding more water will ditule the taste (unless you made extra stock to add on), throwing out excess water will be a waste.

Whichever way it is done, porridge, plain or flavoured, is always my comfort food, especially on a cold rainy day.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup or 80g Rice Grain
• 2 Flower Crabs, clean
• 1.5 - 2 litre Homemade Chicken Stock
• 2-3 slices Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Chicken Powder (optional)
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Cook the rice as normal in rice cooker.
2. Meanwhile, prepared the crabs.
3. Pull out and remove the tail flap.
4. Open the upper shell and remove and discard the gill and innards.
5. Chop the crab into 2 parts each.
6. Place the crab parts into the chicken stock.
7. Bring to a gentle boil for 10 minutes or till just cooked.
8. Remove the meaty parts of the crab.
9. Remove the crab meat.
10. Set the meat aside and return the remaining shells to the stock to continue cooking for 15 minutes.
11. When the rice is cooked, scoop it out into a pot.
12. Pour the drained stock into the pot with the rice.
13. Add in the sliced ginger.
14. Bring the rice with stock to a boil.
15. Reduce to a simmer.
16. Continue cooking for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring it occasionally to prevent the grains from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
17. Cook longer for a smoother congee-like consistency.
18. Add in the crab meat.
19. Season with the cooking wine, chicken powder, if using, and salt.
20. Serve, here with fried shredded ginger and it's oil and spring onion.

Note:

• In step 12, you can add the chicken stock in parts instead of adding all at once.  Add more stock later if you find the porridge too thick.
• I cooked and removed the meat of the crab so it will be easier to eat. You can add the crab parts with the cooked rice and stock to cook together if you like.
• To remove the crab meat in step 9, you can use a pair of kitchen scissor to cut open the crabs. You can only do this if you are using flower crabs as they have much softer outer shells.