Pickled Cucumber

Recipe for Pickled Cucumber

Ingredients:

• 1 Japanese Cucumber, washed, scrubbed to remove pointy parts
• 1 tablespoon, lightly Fried or Roasted Garlic

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider
• 1/3 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• a dash of Worcestershire Sauce (optional)

How to do it:

1. Cut cucumber into 2cm thick or into 4 parts then halved, lenghwise, whichever you prefer.
2. Put all cut cucumber into a ziploc bag or a container.
3. Add roasted garlic and marinade to the cucumber.
4. Squeeze out excess air from ziploc bag, if using.
5. Refrigerate it for about 4 hours or till ready to serve.
6. Turn the bag around or give the cucumber slices a stir occasionally to make sure all the pieces get well marinated.
7. Place pickled cucumber in a dish and served with some of the marinade.

Note:

• You can add some Japanese La Yu or Chilli if you want it to be spicy.
• Fried or Roasted Garlic adds fragrance but will not overpower the pickled cucumber with a strong garlic smell.  You can use raw garlic if you like though.

As seen in https://instagram.com/p/1NpFINgdPL/

Okra Salad

Recipe for Okra Salad

Ingredients:

• 6 to 7 Okra, washed and cleaned

Dressing:

• Some Bonito Flakes
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Yuzu Seasoned Soy Sauce

How to do it:

1. Steam Orka for 4 minutes.
2. Cut the top and the tip of okra away.
3. Cut okra into 1 to 1.5cm thick.
4. Top okra with bonito flakes.
5. Drizzle Yuzu Seasoned Soy Sauce.
6. Serve.

Note:

• You can replace Yuzu Season Soy Sauce with 1 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce, 1/4 teaspoon Lemon Juice and a pinch of Sugar.  However the taste of the sauce will depends on the type of light soy sauce used.

as seen in https://instagram.com/p/0seQ_YAdBO/

Roasted Button Mushroom with Garlic and Thyme

This is one easy recipe for mushroom lovers. 

You will need an oven or toaster to do this. If you don't have one, you can do it using the flying pan but it will very wet and you won't be able to get the brown top. 

However, the flavours will be there.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Cremini Mushroom, cleaned with a damp cloth. Do not wash.

Seasoning Paste:

• 2 tablespoon Butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 4 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme or 2 tablespoon Fresh Thyme
• Ground Black Pepper and Salt to taste
• 1 small cup Panko or Breadcrumbs
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)

How to do it:

1. Brush dirt from mushrooms and clean with damp cloth or paper towel.
2. Trim the stalks to level them with the caps.
3. Set aside.
4. Mix  ingredients for the seasoning paste together, except for panko and Parmesan Cheese.
5. Spread paste on the underside of the mushrooms.
6. Set aside.
7. Mix panko with 2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, if using.
8. Press the mushrooms with paste on the panko.
9. Arrange on an oven proof dish.
10. Roast in preheated oven at 220c for 12 mins.
11. Increase temperature to 250c and continue to roast for 2 mins to brown the top further.
12. Serve.

Note:

• If you cut the mushroom, you will get a wetter result. So, if you prefer to have more 'sauce', cut mushroom to 2 to 3 pieces.  However, the paste slips off easily after roasting as there's nothing to hold it.
• You can make this in advance and store in the fridge to roast when you are ready.
  
• If you do not have Balsamic Vinegar, you can replace it with regular black vinegar or lemon juice

Curry Chicken Satay

I haven't been updating this food blog for awhile.  If you would like to know what I have been up to, you can always check out my Instagram.

This was done in August.  I was craving for curry chicken then but not the kids.  Hence I came up with this idea of serving the curry and chicken separately.

The curry is served as a dipping sauce for the chicken.  You can also soak up your french loaf with curry to eat it too.  You can eat the chicken satay as it is like my kids too.  Or eat them all together!  It's a 2 in 1 dish.

You can use premix for the curry.  If you want to try making your own curry, you might like to try the following recipe, which I'm reposting it here for your convenience. 

However, for this dish I have shared, I did not use chicken. Hence I used chicken stock instead of water to cook it.  I added carrots too. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken, chopped into parts
• 400g Potatoes, skinned and cut into smaller pieces
• 30g Curry Powder for meat (cos there is curry powder for fish too)
• 750ml Chicken Broth or Water
• 500ml Coconut Milk
• 200ml Coconut Cream
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• Salt and Sugar to taste

Spices to be grind into paste:

• 10 Shallots, skinned
• 3 clove Garlic, skinned
• 10g Turmeric
• 20g Galangal
• 6 Red Chilli (more if you can handle it)
• 1/2 stalk Lemon Grass

How to do it:

1. Add 2 tablespoon of broth or water to the curry powder and mix well.
2. Set aside.
3. Heat wok with oil.
4. Add in the Spice paste and fry till fragrant.
5. Add the curry powder paste to the spice paste and mix well.
6. Add in the Chicken and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Add in the potatoes and the rest of the broth or water and coconut milk.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 30 - 60 mins or till both chicken and potatoes are tender ( I simmer for almost 2 hours).
10. Stir in the coconut cream.
11. Add sugar and salt to taste.
12. Bring to a boil.
13. Serve with toasted French loaf or rice.

As for the chicken satay, if you can use your own favourite recipe or if you like, you can try this,

Ingredients:

• 3 Chicken Drumstick, deboned and cut into small pieces

Marinade:

• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Maltose
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 tablespoon Potato Flour

How to do it:

1. Mix ingredients for marinade well
2. Marinate chicken for at least an hour.
3. Drain chicken but do not need to pat dry.
4. Thread chicken pieces in skewers.
5. Heat oil in pan and shallow fry till done.

Note:
You can oven grill it too. Just spray a little oil on the chicken and grill in preheated oven at 200C for 15minutes, turn once in-between baking.  Increase temperature to 240C and continue grilling for a couple of  minutes to char it a little if you like.

{ 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

{ Breakfast: Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger }

I'm clearing mushrooms that I bought earlier this week that I ended up not cooking.  I had a tray of medium sized portobello mushrooms so I thought I will just grill them for breakfast today.

The kids want theirs with ham and cheese; without bread. :/  I haven't been well and lost my appetite. So I'm going to force myself to have a heavier breakfast.  I had cravings for caramelised onions, so adding that to my mushrooms should help whet my appetite.

I oven grilled the portobello mushroom for 10mins at 240c, with butter, garlic powder and and a splash of balsamic vinegar, basting the mushroom with the sauce from it.

The burger bun was halved and toasted. I had the burger with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, the juicy portobello mushroom; topped with yummy caramelised onions.

Did this whet your appetite like it did for me?

Pan Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Chicken and mushroom are both my kids' all time favourite food.  When I'm feeling lazy, I'll grill chicken with mushroom.  It can never go wrong. 

It's always better than cooking the typical 3 dish 1 soup meal.  So much lesser things to prepare and cook.  And most importantly so much less washing and cleaning up to do.

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Thigh, deboned
• 1 box Cremini Mushroom, cleaned and sliced
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 100ml Chicken Stock
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)

Marinade:

• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/3 tablespoon Sake or Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/3 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 clove Garlic, grated

How to do it:

1. Marinate chicken thigh in marinade for an hour.
2. Drain and grilled on lightly greased pan, skin side down on medium low heat for 15mins.
3. Turn chicken thighs over and grill for another 10mins or till chicken thighs are completely cooked.
4. Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan.
5. Stir in mushroom and a pinch of salt.
6. Saute till the juice from the cooking starts to dry up a little.
7. Add in the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.
8. Season with salt.
9. Thicken the sauce with corn flour mixture.
10. Drizzle over the chicken thighs and serve.

Note:

• Cremini Mushroom are similar to White (Button) Mushroom.  It is the one with a light brown cap.
• You can use white mushroom too but I prefer Cremini Mushroom as it has firmer texture and a more earthy flavor compared to the white mushroom.

Steamed Seafood Tofu Balls

This is a easy dish and is quick to prepare and tasty too.

If you have more time, use dry shitake mushroom (dehydrated) instead of fresh shitake for added fragrance.  Seafood is added for texture and extra crunch. 

This is a dish well received by both the adults and kids.

Ingredients:

• 1 tube Egg Tofu
• 200g Fish Paste
• 8 Medium Prawns, shelled and deveined
• 3 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, stem removed and diced
• 1-2 small floret Broccoli, diced
• 50ml water, if using Happy Call Pan

Seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• a dash White Pepper Powder

Sauce:

• 50 ml Water
• a pinch Chicken Seasoning Powder
• Corn Flour Mixture as thickener

How to do it:

1. Smash prawn with flat part of cleaver or chopper and set aside.
2. Squeeze egg tofu out of the tube.
3. Mix tofu, fish paste, prawns and the diced vegetables together with the seasonings.
4. Oil a muffin tray.
5. Scoop about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon of tofu mixture into the tray. Top with a wolf berry if you like.
6. Add the water to the happy call pan and set the tofu mixture to steam for 5 to 7 minutes.
7. Remove the tofu balls with a spoon and set aside.
8. Carefully pour out the juice in the muffin tray into a pan.
9. Add in water and seasoning with chicken seasoning powder and bring to a simmer.
10. Thicken with corn flour mixture.
11. Spoon sauce over the tofu balls.
12. Drizzle sesame oil if you like.
13. Serve immediately.

Note:

• You can replace prawns with squid if you like.
• Experiment using other vegetables instead of broccoli.
• If you do not have a Happy Call Pan, you can steam using the regular way. Remember to lift the muffin tray up so the steaming water will not boil and get into the muffin tray.

{ Breakfast : Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Ham, Bacon and Poached Egg }

This was last Saturday's breakfast which was some of our favourite food that I have combined together as a meal. 

I have the oven working on the mushroom and cheese, the grill pan on the bacon and the deep pan on the poached egg at the same time, while I prepare the salad.

For the Portobello Mushrooms, I spreaded 1/2 teaspoon of butter and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  I let it grill in the oven at 250c for 10 minutes.  In between grilling, I turned the mushrooms and let it the other side of the mushroom soak up and juice and continue grilling.  Just before the mushrooms are done, place 1 or 2 slices of ham on the mushroom to heat it up.

I sprinkled some Shredded Parmesan Cheese on a piece of baking paper and let it turn brown and crisps at the same time as  the mushrooms are grilling.

Meanwhile, pan grill the bacon till they are brown and crispy. Let them sit on paper towel to drain excess oil.

While the rest are cooking, have a a pan or pot filled with water deep enough to cover eggs.  Let the water be in a gentle simmer.  You will see tiny bubbles from the base of the pan or pot but the water should not be jumping. reduce the heat to the lowest you can get just to maintain heat.  Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water. 

Now, crack the egg into a bowl (I'm using cold eggs).  Gentle pour out into the pan with hot water.  Let it simmer for about 4 minutes or to your preferred done-ness.  Use a slotted spoon to gentle remove the egg.  You can do a few eggs together or one at time.

Dish the mushroom with ham on the plate. Gently place the poached egg on the mushroom. Top with bacon, Break the Parmesan chips into smaller pieces and sprinkle over. Drizzle with truffle oil and season with salt and pepper.

Breakfast is served.

Okra with Mayonnaise and Ebiko

I had this dish at Raman Play last year and was hooked. If you have tried this before, you will know that it's really expensive for just that few pieces.

I tried to replicate it last year without successful and had forgotten about it. Last week, a gardening friend posted a different type of okra (it was short and fat) and I though it will really nice if I can make this dish using this recipe. Yums.

It's an extremely easy recipe. The important thing to take note is not to over cook the okra and not make it slimey. 

I have tried blanching and it doesn't help with the slimey issue. So please don't try blanching.

I used my water oven to steam them on rack so that no water will settle on the base of the okra. If you are using a wok to steam, try placing a rack to lift up the okra.

Ingredients:

• 4 Okra
• 4 tablespoon Japanese Mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoon Ebiko

How to do it:

1. Mix Japanese Maya and Ebiko together and set aside.
2. Clean the okra. Do not cut or slice it.
3. Steam for 4 minutes.
4. Cut of the top and slice okra into 2 length-wise.
5. Spread the mayo mixture on the okra.
6. Use a blow torch to burn the top.
7. Serve immediately.

Note:

• The more cuts you have on the okra, the more slimey it will be. Hence I do not recommend you steam the okra after cutting.
• The timing on steaming the okra depends on how you like the okra to be. 4 mins will still give the okra some crunch to it.
• If you do not have a blow torch, you can use the oven cook the top. However you might want to reduce the steaming time so the okra will not be to soft with double cooking.
• Torching the toppings, gives is a nice smell and the mixture will melt a little and flows down to the okra giving it the seasoning it needs.

{ Breakfast : Burger with Egg and Mushroom }

This was Sunday's breakfast.

The kids have been asking for burgers very often for weekend burgers. =_=||  They really like the meat patties so much. :P

This time round, I made smaller meat patties but a bit too small till you can't even see it. It's in between the cheese and the omelette.  The egg was seasoned with salt and pepper and also drizzled with truffle oil. I topped it with sauteed button mushroom too.

Stir-fried Asparagus and Scallops with Belacan

This is one of my favourite dish. I will always cook this, with or without seafood, whenever I can get the thick asparagus.  I just can't get the same kick with the thin Thai asparagus. 

I wished that the price for these asparagus is more affordable though. It's such an expensive dish to cook.

Ingredients:

• 6 Asparagus, skinned and sliced
• 4 Scallops, sliced half
• 2 clove Garlic, minced
• 2 Shallot, sliced
• 1 Chilli, seed and julienned
• 1 teaspoon Belacan, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon Cooking Oil

How to do it:

1. Saute garlic and shallot in oil till fragrant.
2. Add in chilli, belacan and dried shrimp.
3. Stir fry for about a minute.
4. Add in scallops and stir-fry till almost cooked.
5. Dished the scallops and set aside.
6. In the same wok, add in asparagus and stir fry till the colour of the asparagus turned a dark shade of green or almost cooked. 
7. Add in the previously cooked scallops. 
8. Continue cooking till the scallops are cooked thoroughly.
9. Add a pinch of salt to taste if necessary.
10. Dish and serve immediately.

Note:
You may like to replace scallops with prawns or squids.

Simplfied Hot Plate Tofu

This is a cheat copycat version of the popular sizzling hot plate tofu from zhi char stall. It's a simple hot plate tofu using just a few ingredients that my kids eat.

You can add or replace the the vegetables used here to your preference.

Ingredients:

• 1 tube Egg Tofu, cut into thick pieces
• 2 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, stalk removed and cut into smaller pieces
• a handful Green Peas
• a 1/4 Carrot, skinned and sliced
• some diced Red Pepper for colour (optional)
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon Sugar
• 3 tablespoon Stock or Water

How to do it:

1. Dab dry egg tofu and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown.
2. Remove, drain from oil and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, blanched the carrot till it's slightly soften.
4. Drain and set aside.
5. Heat pan with a tablespoon oil.
6. Saute garlic till fragrant but not brown.
7. Add in the vegetables.
8. Stir-fry for awhile.
9. Add in the tofu.
10. Add in the oyster sauce, sugar and stock.
11. Stir-fry till the vegetables are cooked and stock is almost absorbed.
12. Meanwhile, heat up a oiled pan or hot plate.
13. Pour in the the beaten egg and swirl around to make sure the egg covers the whole pan.
14. Pour in the cooked tofu and vegetable.
15. Serve immediately.

Note:

• If you are using hard vegetables such as baby corn, carrot, sweet peas, etc., you can either blanch them or stir fry them first before adding the rest of vegetables as they need a longer time to cook compared to the rest.
• Turn off the heat before you crack the egg. If the pan or hot plate is heated well enough, there will be enough heat to continue cooking the egg. This way also prevents the egg from over-cooking before adding the tofu and vegetables.

Cream of Asparagus 芦笋奶油汤

I bought a pack of Asparagus not realising that I already have a pack at home. As I'm the one one eating it, I find turning it into soup is the fastest way to finish it.

I made this last Saturday for breakfast.  So glad that my daughter loves it.  Now I don't have to only make Mushroom Soup for her. There's another option and more to come, I come.  No luck with my son though even bacon was used. :/

It's an easy and yummy 'hulk' soup that you got to try. :)

Ingredients:

• 200g Asparagus, chopped into sections
• 1 small or 1/2 medium Onion (not shallot), diced
• 4 strips Streaky Bacon (optional), diced
• 1 Litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 50ml Cooking Cream
• Salt and Pepper to taste

How to do it:

1. Fry streaky bacon till brown.
2. Remove the bacon bits leaving the oil in the pan.
3. Saute the onion till soft.
4. Add in the asparagus and cook for 5 mins (shorter time if you are using Thai Asparagus).
5. Add in the stock and bring to a simmer.
6. Continue cooking till the asparagus is tender.
7. Blend till it is smooth.
8. Add salt to taste.
9. Stir in cooking cream.
10. Thicken with some corn flour mixture if you like.
11. Serve.

Note:

• I'm using streaky bacon to try covering up some of the taste of asparagus to make it more acceptable for kids. You can use 1/2 tablespoon butter instead.
• If you do not wish to use corn flour to thicken the soup, you can use double cream instead of cooking cream.
• Cooking cream can be replaced with Whipping Cream too.