Home-cooked Fried Rice
I was craving for fried rice and this day I finally had the chance to fry my own rice! I love to add big onions into my fried rice. So coincidentally, there were big onions in my house and I sliced them up immediately. They add a lovely sweetness and fragrance to the rice!
The other ingredients were crab meat, chicken patty and egg. The seasonings include salt, pepper and mushroom powder.
This is the version that my dad likes: shallots instead of big onions.
YUMS!
Will add on pictures when I fry them with different ingredients such as spam and ginger!
Home-cooked Fish Soup and other dishes
My parents were out of town and my cousin sis and bro’s gf came over for dinner. That sums up to 5 people and I’ve never cooked any meal more than for 3 people. But i felt cooking more is easier than cooking for less.
So here’s what I whipped out:
1. Fish soup:
I bought fish trimmings, garoupa fish head and a garoupa fillet from NTUC Finest. Heat the pot with oil and garlic. Then add in half a bowl of Shao Xing wine into the hot pot. Be careful of the sizzling. Then add in bowls of water. More sizzling. This should give the soup a very fragrant taste. When the water boils, add in the fish head and tomatoes. You may add in soft beancurd too. Add salt, chicken cubes, pepper, mushroom powder to enhance the taste. Lastly add in the remaining fish and vegetables.I used chinese big cabbage here as it gives the soup a very sweet taste. It’s surprising these easy steps can give a very good soup.
2. Sitr-fried mixed vegetables:
Heat the wok with oil and big onions. Cook the carrots, peas and mini corns as they are more difficult to get cooked. Lastly add in the mushrooms. Season with salt, mushroom powder and 鱼露.
3. Luncheon meat omelette:
Cousin Sis favourite food is luncheon meat. So brother went out to buy Mei Way 美味 Pork Luncheon Meat which tasted very well! Cut the luncheon meat into small cubes and fry till the surface till golden brown. Then scoop them out and mix into the beaten eggs. Add in cut chilli for more spice! Do not add salt as luncheon meat is salty by itself. Pour a little of the mixture into a well-heated wok and fry under low heat. I even fried two additional pieces of luncheon meat for her!
4. Stir-fried beef with broccoli:
From NTUC, buy the beef flank or beef for stir-fry. Marinate with pepper and soy sauce. Boil the broccoli in hot water till cooked. Stir fry the beef over high heat, and dash in Shao Xing wine at the end to create the aroma. Serve beef on top of the broccoli.
5. Sambal chilli brinjal:
Boil the brinjal in hot water till cooked. Then I used Team’s Gormet Chrispy Prawn Chilli and fry them a while to mix the chilli into the brinjals. Super fragrant and spicy!!!
Serve with piping hot rice! Of course, all the food were finished!!
Home-cooked Potato Chips
Ooooooooooo…. I came across this when my friend was making her own potato chips at home! She followed the steps and her photo was really enticing!!!
Photograph courtesy of Ms Toh 🙂
I’m gonna make this one of these days!!
Method:
1) Get some potatoes. I used the little tiny ones, but you can use whatever you have laying around. Experiment to find out which ones you like best.
2) Wash your potatoes. Peel them if you want to, but I like to leave the skin on.
3) Slice the potatoes between one-eighth and one-sixteenth inches thick (about 2-6 mm for you non-American readers), use a mandolin if you have one. Thickness is something that you can experiment with, it’s mostly preference, but it has a pretty big effect on cooking time.
4) Put all of your sliced potatoes into a bowl. Add about a teaspoon of your favorite oil (I like olive oil).
5) Toss the potato slices in the oil. Slowly add more oil and toss if you need to. Go with about a teaspoon at a time. Only add enough to coat, if you have oil pooling in the bottom of the bowl, you have added too much.
6) Get a baking pan and cover it with aluminum foil. Spray that foil with your favorite non-stick spray. If you don’t the chips will stick, and will be really hard to remove.
7) Lay your oil-coated potato slices in a single layer on the baking sheet.
8 ) Heat your oven to 400 degrees (F), set the timer for twenty minutes. This isn’t the total cooking time, since we will watching them to see when they are done.
9) Put the potatoes into the oven and keep an eye on them. They are done when the edges start to curl up. I like mine a little more crispy, so I left mine in a little longer. It’s another personal preference thing that you can play around with.
10) When the chips are done, pull them out and set them aside to cool. If you want to put some seasoning on them, this is the time to do it. Most people will add a little salt, but you can get creative with your toppings. I like mine with some black pepper and Old Bay seasoning.
11) Enjoy!!
Adapted from Website: http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-make-your-own-healthier-potato.html
Home-cooked Ma Po Toufu
Dad’s rendition of ma po toufu (麻婆豆腐). I have never like this dish. But my dad says I probably have not eaten a good one. Hence, he tried to whip this up. It’s really nice, but it lacked the spiciness. Perhaps I really need to eat a good one to like this.
Dad’s second try was definitely much better, with the addition of more Sichuan pepper.
Home-cooked Niang Chilli and Dou Pok
Following up on my previous post on stuffed hairy squash, I finally got my mum to cook this!!! This is one of my favourite dishes!! I love the sauce that goes with the chilli. I can even dip the dou pok in the sauce and it goes very well with rice!
Recipe
Ingredients:
1) fish paste 400g
2) Minced pork 200 g
3) water chestnuts 6 pcs (coarsly chopped)
4) red chillies 10 pcs
5) green chillies 5 pcs
6) small square taupok 20 pcs
7) spring onions ( finely cut)
8} pepper, salt, sesame oil to taste
Gravy for the chilli:
1) 3 tablespoon light soy sauce
2) 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp. sugar
3) 1/2 cup water
4) cornflour for thickening the sauce
Method:
1) Mix the fish paste, minced meat, salt, spring onions and water chestnuts together.
2) Cut each red and green chillies lengthways. Remove the seeds and thick membranes. Pad dry with kitchen tissue pepper and spread little cornflour on the inner surface.
3) Cut each taupok into half. And turn inside out.
4) Fill the chillies, taupok with minced mixture.
5) Heat up wok, put enough oil , When the oil is hot , carefully place the taupok pieces, meat side down, deep fried until lightly golden brown, turn to the other side. When both sides are golden brown, transfer to a plate.
6) With the same wok, remove excess oil, just leave enough oil to pan fry the chilies, meat side down. When the meat coulour change white , pour the light soy sauce , stir fry for few seconds until you smell aromatic. Pour in water and sugar, let simmer (low heat, do not cover with lid) until the chillies are cooked. Thicken the sauce wiht cornflour. Garnish and serve.
NOTE: fish paste from the market is quite salty. So do not add too much salt to it.
Home-cooked Stir-fried French Beans with Minced Pork
Ingredients:
French beans 200 g
Preserved Vegetables (冬菜) 10 g
Minced pork 80 g
Spring onions (葱花) 10 g
Garlic (蒜茸) 10 g
Broth 120 g
(You may add some cut chilli)
Seasonings:
Soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
Sugar – 1/2 teaspoon
Dark soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
Sesame oil – 1/2 tablespoon
Hua Diao Wine – 1/2 tablespoon
Method:
1) Remove the “heads” of the french beans. Wash clean and dry them.
2) Heat up wok of oil. When the oil is 70% hot, put in the french beans to deep-fry them slightly. Then remove from heat and leave aside for later use.
3) Heat up some oil in wok. Add in minced pork, preserved vegetables and garlic and stir-fry them till fragrant.
4) Add in the broth and the french beans and stir-fry together.
5) Add in the seasonings.
6) Simmer till dry.
7) Garnish with spring onions and serve.
Tips:
Before deep-frying the french beans, wash them with cold water to keep it’s green colour.
Use pork bones or chicken to make the broth. Cook up to 4 hours.
Home-cooked Stir-fried French Beans with Prawns
Similar to the previous few posts on stir-frying vegetables, this one is with prawns.
Method:
1. Cut the french beans and stir-fry them till 80% cooked. Alternatively, for a healthier choice, boil them in water. Dish up for later use.
2. In the hot wok, fragrant some oil with garlic. Add in sliced onions and fry together.
3. Throw in the prawns and pan-fry them till 80% cooked.
4. Add in the french beans and fry together.
5. Sprinkle the seasonings (water + oyster sauce) and pepper.
6. Add hua diao wine along the sides of the wok before scooping up to serve.
You can add some corn flour solution to thicken sauce.
Home-made Crispy Onion (Shallot) Garnish
My colleagues and I were talking about eating the onion flakes that we usually top onto our soup. The ready-made ones that are selling outside doesn’t taste good and fresh. We still prefer homemade ones. I was sharing with them how to make them. So here’s the method!
1. Slice up the small onions/shallots into thin and fine pieces. You need quite alot of shallots to make a reasonable amount. They will shrink when they’re done.
2. Heat up some oil in your wok to just enough cover the shallots. When the oil is hot, lower to medium fire and then throw in the shallots. Make sure you turn them and be careful not to burn them! When the shallots start to turn yellow, flip and stir more often. Just before it turns brown, off the fire and take them out (without the oil). Place them onto kitchen tissue to soak up the excess oil. If you wait till the colour turns brown, it will be too late, and you will get burnt shallots.
3. The done shallots! Sprinkle on top of your dishes as garnish!! Yummmmy!
Steamed Egg 蒸水蛋
I made this nice, smooth and tasty steamed egg today. It has always been my favourite. But egg-dishes always look simple, but difficult to master. So here’s how to make really smooth steamed egg.
Method:
1. Using a standard rice bowl, beat one egg (small) and add water to 3/4 the height of the bowl. (If the egg is bigger, add a little more water.)
2. Repeat Step 1 for more eggs.
3. This photograph shows 5 eggs in a big soup bowl. Use a low, but wide soup bowl so that the egg will not be too “old”.
4. Add light soya sauce, pepper, salt and chicken powder into the egg mixture.
5. When the water is boiling, put into wok and steam for 20 minutes under very gentle fire. Harsh fire will make your egg grow “pimples”.
6. Use a metal skewer to check if the egg is thoroughly cooked before removing from heat.
7. Drizzle light soya sauce and pepper on top before serving.
Luncheon meat omelette
A simple yet hearty dish.
Method:
1. Cut up the luncheon meat into small cubes.
2. Stir-fry them in wok till fragrant and a little crispy.
3. Beat up eggs in a big bowl. Add some salt and cut chilli padi into the egg mixture.
4. Mix the luncheon meat into the egg mixture.
5. Using a well-heated wok, add oil and pan-fry each omelette under gentle fire.
6. Serve with plain porridge or rice!! Yummy!
Home-made Chicken Rice Set
Whenever it was 初一 or 初十五 and especially during Chinese New Year, these will always appear on the dinner table.
-
- Abalone on Sweet Peas
-
- cabbage soup
-
- 白斩鸡 Chicken
-
- Chicken Rice Instant Mix
-
- Roasted Pork
-
- Special Dip
My favourite is the special dip sauce for the chicken. It is a mixture of spring onions, corriander and deep-fried onion shallots.
Method for Special Dip:
1. Clean and wash spring onions and corriander. Ratio is 2:1 respectively. Place them onto bowl.
2. Slice the onion shallots. Deep fry till golden brown. Around 10 onion shallots for 3 big stalks of spring onions.
3. Scoop up and quickly place them over the spring onions and corriander. Pour some of that oil over the whole mixture.
4. Add salt accordingly to season.
5. Mix well before serving.
As for the cabbage soup, use the water that was used to cook the chicken as the soup base. Season accordingly and add in cabbage, carrots or any vegetables that you want. Remove the oil before serving.
I use canned abalone and sliced them up. The sweet peas were stir-fried in the wok. Some of the abalone “sauce” in the can were used in the making of the sauce together with some mushroom powder. No need to add salt as the abalone “sauce” is salty.
For the chicken rice, you can use the instant pack sold at NTUC. The traditional method is to pan-fry the rice in the wok with garlic and salt. Then scoop up into rice cooker. Add in the water that was used to cook the chicken to cook the rice. Put in a few pieces of pandan leaves to cook the rice. Oh well, the instant pack saves all the trouble!
Broccoli with Prawns
Method:
1. Boil the broccoli in boiling water to cook it. Add a little bit of oil and a pinch of salt into the boiling water to make the broccoli green and shiny.
2. On the hot wok, fragrant some oil with garlic.
3. Throw in the prawns and pan-fry them till 80% cooked.
4. Add in the broccoli and fry together.
5. Sprinkle the seasonings (water + oyster sauce) and pepper.
6. Add hua diao wine along the sides of the wok before scooping up to serve.
7. Thicken the sauce with corn starch solution if you like.
Potato Stew
This is undeniably my very most favourite dish.
Method:
1. Marinate the minced pork with soya sauce, pepper and salt.
2. Heat up wok and add in some oil.
3. Stir-fry a little amount of diced garlic to make the oil fragrant.
4. Throw in the minced pork and stir-fry till 80% cooked. Scoop up for later use.
Alternatively, you can use roasted pork slices in replacement of the minced pork.
5. Heat the wok with oil. Throw in sliced potato and pan-fry till they are a little brown.
6. Add water, dark soy sauce, soy sauce and salt, and simmer the potato till they are cooked.
7. Add in the minced pork and simmer again. Cook thoroughly.
8. Serve.
Minced Pork Omelette
Me and my brothers’ favourite!!! I like the egg to be thick and a little wet inside.
Method:
1. Marinate the minced pork with soya sauce, pepper and salt.
2. Heat up wok and add in some oil.
3. Stir-fry a little amount of diced garlic to make the oil fragrant.
4. Throw in the minced pork and stir-fry till 80% cooked.
5. Beat up 3 eggs (depends on the amount of minced pork). Add in a pinch of salt into the eggs.
6. Scoop them up and add into the egg mixture. Stir evenly.
7. Heat up wok and add in oil.
8. Heat up frying pan with oil. Pour a little of the mixture into the pan and pan-fry each omelette slowly over gentle fire.
9. Serve.
Long Beans Omelette
Easy to cook and nice to eat! We three siblings had this very often while we were in Primary school.
Method:
1. Wash the long beans and dice into thin pieces. Not too thick, otherwise they won’t be cooked.
2. Beat up 3 eggs (depends on the amount of long beans). Add in a pinch of salt and cut up chilli padi into the eggs.
3. Heat up wok and add in oil.
4. Throw in the diced long beans and stir-fry till 80% cooked.
5. Scoop them up and add into the egg mixture. Stir evenly.
6. Heat up frying pan with oil. Pour a little of the mixture into the pan and pan-fry each omelette slowly over gentle fire.
7. Serve.
Braised Japanese Tofu
Can’t seem to have enough of these Japanese tofu at the restaurant? Make your own!!
Method of Tofu:
1. Wipe dry after removing from plastic wrapper. Cut into a few pieces per tube.
2. Coat with a thin layer of corn flour.
3. Deep-fry till golden brown.
Method of Minced Pork:
1. Marinate the minced pork with soya sauce, pepper and salt.
2. Heat up wok and add in some oil.
3. Stir-fry a little amount of diced garlic to make the oil fragrant.
4. Throw in the minced pork and stir-fry till 80% cooked.
5. Dissolve dark soya sauce, soya sauce, salt, oyster sauce and sugar into water.
6. Add in the deep-fried tofu and mix. Bring to boil.
7. Dissolve one teaspoon of corn starch into water. Add into the sauce in spiral manner and stir while adding corn starch solution. This is to thicken the sauce.
8. Garnish and serve!
Stir-Fried Vegetables
Beansprouts: Stir-fry with garlic and salted fish. Add sliced chilli to spice up your taste buds!
Spinach: Stir-fry with crunchy ikan bilis and add chicken broth and simmer.
Chinese Cabbage: Plain stir-fry with garlic. Add mushroom powder for added taste!
Hairy Squash (毛瓜) with vermicillin: Add pepper and dried shrimps for added taste.
Sweet peas, cauliflower, carrots and prawns.
Popular Kang Kong dish. Stir-fry with chilli. If you have belancan, even better still!!!
Cabbage with Fungus and pork slices
Asparagus with Capsicum, mushrooms, onions, golden mushroom, prawns, shell fish and scallops.
四脚豆 with sambal belacan
Home-cooked Stuffed Hairy Squash 酿毛瓜
My favourite deep-fried taupok! My mum is very good at making stuffed items or otherwise known as 酿豆腐， 酿辣椒，酿矮瓜，etc.
Method for the meat:
1. Pork and fish meat in the ratio 1:2. Minced them together.
2. Add seasonings. Add diced water chestnut and prawns if you like.
3. Leave it in the chiller for it to be marinated.
4. Stuff the meat into any item you wish!
5. Coat items with a little corn flour. Then pan-fry to prevent the meat from falling out while cooking later.
6. For this bittergourd, you can deep-fry them till cooked.
6. For this hairy squash (毛瓜), place them onto a big plate.
7. Add soy sauce, sugar (yes!) and oyster sauce.
8. Steam till cooked.
6. Ah! My favourite taupok! Flip over the taupok such that the insides are on the outside.
7. Stuff the meat inside, and deep-fry till golden brown!
8. Some other items to marinate will be chilli and brinjal.
9. Cook them in chicken broth and soya beans soup too!
I’m drooling already~
Onion Omelette
I don’t like to eat this dish when I was young. But when I got into my teenage years, this became my favourite omelette dish. It is non other than the big onion-egg omelette! Add some chilli in for greater taste. Fragrant! I like it a little thick, a little liquid in the inside and hard on the outside!
Do I need to type out the method? Well here goes:
1. Sliced up one big onion (not the dark purple skin type).
2. Stir fry onions in wok till fragrant, but not too cooked.
3. Beat up 3 medium eggs and add in the stir-fried onions into big bowl. Add salt for taste.
4. Heat up wok and pour the mixture in appropriate portions.
5. Fry till fragrant.
Mixed Vegetables with Toufu
This dish is nutritious – with vegetables and meat! I love to pour the gravy over my rice to eat with it!
Main ingredients:
1. sweet peas
2. prawns
3. chicken breast
4. minced pork (marinate with pepper and soy sauce)
5. Japanese egg toufu
6. big onion
7. carrot
Other optional ingredients you can add: shiitake mushrooms, little squids, capsicum (灯笼椒)
Method:
1. Heat up wok with oil.
2. Coat japanese egg toufu with corn flour before deep-frying them. Ensure that oil is fully heated before deep-frying. Otherwise you toufu will not turn out golden brown.
Coating the Toufu
3. Remove toufu from wok. And remove oil, leaving enough for stir-frying.
4. Stir-fry sweet peas. Then add in carrots, then big onions. Stir-fry till 3/4 cooked. Remove from wok.
5. Add a little more oil and heat.
6. Add fragrance to the oil by adding in 2 thin slices of ginger. Then stir-fry sliced chicken meat, then prawn. Also, stir-fry till 3/4 cooked. Remove from wok.
7. Add a little oil and heat. Add in minced meat and stir-fry till 3/4 cooked.
8. Add in the ingredients earlier – chicken meat, prawn and the vegetables in order. Stir-fry.
9. To about half a bowl of water, add in some oyster sauce and vegetarian G seasoning powder (or chicken powder). Mix in the bowl, then pour over ingredients in the wok. (You can make more sauce by using more water.)
10. Simmer (no lid) for around 2 minutes, turning over in the midst.
11. Serve.
Mixed Vegetables
starhealer
Next Food Stop 