Snails =^^=

Haha, tadah.. The Snails!!!
Both kids ate 2 snails each with heaps of mash + greens.

Hawaiian Pizza

An almost mthly affair for kids & I. They love the decorating part.. :P

I used unbleached flour this time round for a thin crust (:

Tonkotsu Ramen

There are some pretty nice ramen in SG, but nothing beats standing at those little stalls in Japan, slurping a big bowl of piping hot ramen (oh yes, the louder the slurp, the betta :P ) in winter. I remember, so dearly, my 1st bowl of authentic Japanese ramen, on a winter nite, on Valentine's Day... ^^

Saw this link posted by M, and I was immediately hooked. Recipe looks daunting to me though 
-__-
http://norecipes.com/2009/12/30/tonkotsu-ramen-recipe/

My first batch of caramelized onions/garlics turned out disastrous, I actually burnt them while busy watching my stove in my virtual kitchen! ARGH! Having to redo another batch all over again greatly dipped my enthusiasm. *lesson learnt*.

My soup base turned out flavorful, I lost count of how many "tons" of pork/chicken bones I used. 

*Quoting the link*
-- Does it make your lips sticky with collagen? Yes! Does it have little creamy nibbles of pork fat floating in the broth? Certainly!--
But somehow something was missing. It didn't have that "milky" taste that screams "ramen"!
Wonder what I did wrong but will definitely give the recipe another shot (:


Mel --> Here.. return u the "smells" :P 
THANK YOU for the recipe :D

Nasi Lemak

Try this the next time u are frying yr chicken.. I was kinda of skeptical initially but let's just say the end product was.. tasty (:

I marinated 4 chicken drumsticks with 5-spice powder, salt, sugar, light soy sauce, honey & 1/2tbsp ENO. 
Marinate for at least 2hrs or overnight if u can.

For coating before frying:-
¼ cup allpurpose flour
2tbsp cornflour
1/4tbsp ENO

For dipping
1 cup milk + 1 egg


Coat seasoned drumstix with dry flour mixture, dip in egg+milk mixture, then coat once again with dry flour mixture before frying them. Remember not to fry on high heat, we don’t wanna burnt skin with undercooked meat inside. 

As for the rice, I simply cooked with 2 cups of rice, pandan leaves (shred & knotted), 150ml of coconut milk & some water. Nothing special I guess.. but at least it tasted like coconut rice :P

I kinda of got addicted to pounding my MHK chilli couple of days back & today, I made my own sambal ikan bilis. The amt of chilli is too little for my blender and, I get the kick out of pounding them with my mortar & pestle :P

I deliberately pounded them coarsely as I like the feel of having bits & pieces of chilli in my sambal. And yes, this time round, I heap up on the fiery little fellows :-D

Here’s how to go about making the sambal ikan bilis:-

Ingredients
- 1 cup of premium ikan bilis
- 1 small red onion (slice thinly)
- 1 clove garlic
- 5 shallots
- 5 big chillies + 20 chilli padis (washed & seeded. Leave some seeds, else the sambal wont be spicy).
- 1 tsp belachan
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar

Tamarind juice
- Tamarind pulp (size of a golf ball) soaked in 1 cup of water. Squeeze tamarind constantly to extract flavor. Drain & set the juice aside.

1) Wash & drain ikan bilis. Fry & set aside.
2) Pound belachan, garlic, shallots & chillies with mortar & pestle.(or u can grind them with blender)
3) Heat some oil & fry spice paste until fragrant.
4) Add in red onion & ikan bilis, mix well.
5) Add in tamarind juice, sugar & salt. Simmer on low heat till u get a thick chilli paste.

Hee.. I am a happy woman today coz I manage to make my own sambal ikan bilis which tasted quite nice lah. I refrigerated the unused portion, not sure how long it can keep though.

Mee Hoon Kuay *with homemade chilli*

MEE HOON KUAY
with homemade chilli

Thnxs to my gf Javice & Evelyn, their yummy mee hoon kuays made me wanna try cooking some at home (:

The kids had LOTSA of fun tearing the dough.. giving me all kinds of funny shapes like triangle, roundies, elongated.. etc. 
This is.. edible playdough to them :S
* those were hidden, only the non-mutated ones are in this pic :P
For the soup base, instead of plain water, I used homemade chicken broth to boil the ikan bilis & presoaked soy beans. The result was.. oomph! :P

Mee Hoon Kuay has to go with chilli & it was my maiden try on pounding my own chilli. Think i was too stingy on those fiery little fellows, my chilli did not turn out spicy enough :S 

My Mee Hoon Kuay was simple, with just meatballs & spinach drowned in wholesome soup. The soybeans were a delight though, I love them (:

老黄瓜汤

A cooling soup for the current hot humid weather (:

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes

When I am feeling lazy and need 1 more dish on the dining table.. :P

1. Scramble 3eggs & set aside.
2. Stirfry a quarter onion (cut into strips), add in 1 tomato (cut into small pieces), tomato sauce (mix with 1tsp of sugar & 1 tbsp water) & cook for about 2-3mins.
3. Add in the cooked scramble eggs & mix well. *tadah* :P

Asparagus & Fish Rolls

Ingredients
6 stalks asparagus
2tbsp cornstarch
200g fishmeat
50g pork belly
1 egg white
1/2tsp salt
2tsp ginger juice
1/2cup stock
1/2cup water

1tsp cornstarch
fewdrops sesame oil


1. Peel asparagus, rinse & cut into 6-cm sections. Scatter 1 tbsp cornstarch over it evenly.
2. Mince fish & pork belly separately before mixing them together. Combine well with egg white, salt & ginger juice till sticky. Mix in 1 tbsp cornstarch.
3. Coat asparagus with mince meat mixture.
4. Steam asparagus rolls on high heat for about 8mins.
5. Mix stock, water & cornstarch and bring to boil, add in sesame oil then drizzle on the steamed asparagus rolls.

note* 
- I usually boil a big pot of chicken stock & batch freeze them into cubes for future use. It comes in real handy for dishes that calls for stock. A whole lot healthier than using off the shelf stock cubes.
- Pork belly takes longer to mince thus mincing them separately from the fish will prevent the fish meat from getting too soggy.


Was skeptical about my kids liking this dish as asparagus by itself is a little bitter. But to my pleasant surprise, the mince fish/belly + the sauce compliments the asparagus very well, and they love it :)
I made 18 of these and they finish every piece & ask for more. A very healthy dish (- the pork belly)

Lotus Soup with Spareribs

DRAIN COVER SOUP *that's what Cay calls it :S
a.k.a lotus soup with spareribs

Plonk lotus, carrots, peanuts, blanched spareribs in a pot, add enough water to just about an inch or so above the ingredients. And add a piece of dried cuttlefish for that robust flavor.
Boil & simmer for about 3hrs.

salt? zilch. nada ^^

Egg custard

I used homemade chicken stock for this. 

Texture was just right, but need to improve on getting a bubble-less, smooth surface..

Cornflakes Chix Stix

This must be eaten hot, else the cornflakes gets soggy after it's cooled.

Meat Patty

TIME FOR SUNRISE
a.k.a meat patty

I had to mix an egg white with the seasoned minced meat, didn't wanted to waste the yolk, thus I plonked it on top of the patty, added some strips of carrot and created a "sun" :P

Mudicles

MUDICLES
a.k.a red bean & pineapples popsicles

I boiled the red beans in sugared water to sweeten them.
Blend the beans, pineapples & milk (use coconut milk for a richer version, but since its for the kids, I used full cream milk). 
The blended mixture was not sweet enough thus I added in a little honey. (take note that sweetness is harder to taste in frozen food).
Pour them into popsicle moulds & freeze them.

My gal loves it but the little man didnt quite fancy it.
Personally, it ain't creamy enough for me and since it was not made with an icecream maker, there were small amts of ice crystals but overall, the bean & pineapple combi with the tinge of honey sweetness was kinda of refreshing (:

Baked Codfish with Almonds

* served with garlic cheese mash & raw ABCs carrots.


Ingredients
2 slices of codfish
almond slices

Marinade
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp melted butter
pinch of salt

Sauce
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp black peppercorns (cracked)
30ml evaporated milk
½ tsp salt
120ml water

- Marinate codfish with melted butter, black pepper & a pinch of salt for 25mins.
- Pop into oven & baked for 20mins at 180degrees C.
- Baked almond slices (2-3mins) till light brown. Set aside.
- Heat butter & fry plain flour till brown. Add in rest of sauce seasonings & stir well.
- Pour seasonings over codfish & sprinkle almond slices.


The milky sauce combined with the almond slices goes pretty well with the codfish ^^

Choc chip muffins with strawberries

Haha.. I am OD-ing on strawberries this week (:

Foil-wrapped Herbal chicken

这几晚天气传凉了。
妈妈煮药材鸡给宝贝们吃 ^^

Marinate a whole chicken with Chinese Wine, Sesame Oil, Pepper, Brown Sugar, Soy sauce & Grated Ginger for a few hours. 
Half the chicken.
Sprinkle chinese herbs, add a little of the marinade, add a little water, top with chicken & foilwrap each portion.
Steam for approx 1.5hrs.

psst.. I used to buy A1 herbal chicken premix.. it's sedap too :P

Prawn Noodle Soup with Spare Ribs (排骨虾面汤)

http://www.mywoklife.com/2009/06/prawn-noodle-soup-with-prime-ribs.html


I added more prawn heads for a more flavorful soup base. 
Didnt have kangkong/beansprouts but I had it with loads of chilli though, hehe (

Choc Fudgesicles

I will usually make some ribena popsicles as rare treats for the kids on a hot hot day.

Exploring more varieties now, this is Choc Fudgesicles, which was an instant hit with the kids.
& I just freeze some strawberry yogurt (with fresh fruits) popsicles in the fridge (:

Cornflakes Cookies

Juz imagine butter cookies coated with cornflakes.
Buttery crunch! ^^

Very Juicy Beef Burgers

1 small onion
450g mince beef
40g fresh breadcrumbs (I used wholemeal, diced finely)
60ml milk
plain flour, for coating
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons of veg oil
burger buns (I used mini butter rolls)
tomatoes
lettuce
cheese

1. Finely grate onion and put in a large bowl with mince beef, breadcrumbs, milk. Season with worchestire sauce & pepper & mix well to combine.
2. Divide the mixture & form each portion into a round & flatten burger shape (approximately 2cm thick). Lightly coat with flour.
3. Heat the oil & butter in a frying pan and add the burger patties. Cook on high heat for about a min before thoroughly cooking it over medium heat for about 8mins (I made mini burgers, 8mins was sufficient). Do not overcook.
4. Slice buns & arrange patties, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes as preferred (: