Saturday, December 31, 2011

Mongolian Pork and fried french beans

Mongolian pork rice is Ben's favourite zi-char dish for dinner. When i saw a blogger cooked this, i immediately bookmarked it to try. The recipe calls for chilli paste which is different from the zi-char sweet version we are used but its nice nevertheless.
Preparate the sliced pork by pounding it into flat pieces to make it tender and easier for the marinate. Marinate the meat with soya sauce, pepper, chinese wine and sesame seed oil. Coat with corn flour and fry in shallow oil until 50% cooked.
Fry garlic and shallot with oil until brown, add curry leaves and chilli paste. Fry until fragrant and then add evaporated milk (i used 1/5 of the can). Season with salt and sugar (i add quite a bit as i prefer it a little sweet).
Add in pork and stir fry until the pork is coated with the sauce as it slowly thickens. Takes another 10 - 15 mins to cook.
For the french bean, i will first fry the ikan bilis with oil until crispy, then add the garlic. Fry garlic until brown and add french beans. Lastly, push french beans to the side and pour in the beaten egg into the pan. Wait till the bottom of the egg is cooked and pushed the french beans on top of the uncooked egg on top and flip the egg over. This ensures nice pieces of fried egg and some egg coating the french beans. Season with oyster sauce is all you need. My favourite french bean dish.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Garlic bread

If you love garlic bread like me, you got to try this.
- Sliced baguette
- Minced garlic
- Salted butter
- Sprinkle of brown sugar

Garlic bread brings back fond memories.

After school, my mum and i will make garlic bread by simply spreading minced raw garlic and butter onto pieces of white bread and toast them in the toaster until crispy golden brown. Simple joyful pleasures.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Butterfly roast chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and rosemary

Cooks faster (45 mins) and as a result, the chicken is extremely juicy... then again, juiciness could be due to the fact that its Sakura chicken, or due to the ginger juice i added. Will experiment again!

At the bottom of the chicken, i have laid 2 stalks of rosemary and 40 cloves of garlic.
To marinate the chicken, i used salt, pepper and ginger juice.

Between the meat and the skin, i pushed small cubes of butter to keep the meat moist.

In the last 10 mins of cooking under grill mode, i brushed the skin with oil, bean paste and sprinkle brown sugar for the brown caramelised look.

The gravy is made by mashing the roasted garlic with the chicken juices (after skimming off the melted butter), adding pepper and sugar to taste (already salted by the chicken juices from the salt i rub on the chicken). Thicken with corn flour. 
















You think its a lot of food for two? i even made garlic bread!
haha.... grilled it in the oven when the chicken is resting... super duper crispy!

For garlic bread, i applied unsalted butter, minced garlic, and sprinkle over salt and brown sugar.
i dont mind having it as a meal on its own...
:) 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Same same but different

With beef stew


With portobello mushroom

With leftover beef stew and broccoli


Thursday, June 30, 2011

CNY 2011 Bakes - Jam filled corn flake cookies

Jam filled corn flake cookies.... i have to first bake the cookies for 10 mins, take it out, make a hole in the centre, add jam and bake again for 5 more minutes. A lot of work, but totally worth it!

Chocolate chip... that didnt melt like i wanted it to....

Finally, after 2 batches, i have lots of cookies. They are quite popular with my hall friends who came over to play blackjack during CNY. Who can resist the combination of salty crunchy corn flake cookie outside and sweet chewy filling in the middle?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Chicken and cabbage roll

Can't remember the occassion but there is a occassion for this special dish - V day i think, yes, my posts are very out of date, i know....

The huge oval rugby-looking thing is the chicken roll. Made with half a chicken breast, flatten, spread with a generous layer of marinated mince pork, rolled up, wrapped in foil, steam, cool, coat with egg, flour, egg again and finally a layer of cracker crumbs, then shallow fry until golden brown. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

Served with caramelised sweet potato and sour cabbage.


Cross section of the chicken roll looks like this. See the amount of pork i managed to pack inside the chicken (the whitish outer ring and the middle ring)?

I am a very greedy person. haha...










Another twist using the leftover pork.

Using the same marinated minced pork, spread on a leave of cabbage (soften by boiling for 3-5 mins) and steam for 10 mins until the pork is cooked.

The sweetness and crunchiness of the cabbage makes this dish a winner! Wolfberry on the top for decoration only.

Compared to the chicken roll, this is so much easier.



I personally prefer the cabbage roll. Hubby likes the chicken roll (meat wrapped with meat), of course.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Ho Chi Minh City 14-17 May 2011

Day 1 - Upon arrival and check in to hotel, we took a cab directly to Pho 2000 (Decent Pho, can't go wrong choice)

After lunch, we went to Pham Ngu Lao area (backpackers area) to book the Cu Chi tunnel half day tour. Went from shop to shop and asked for price. Price quoted to us ranged from USD 6 to USD 4. We eventually went for the cheapest one at USD4 for pax as the guy speaks Chinese and is from Hainan (same as my grandfather!).

Lunch: Beef Pho at Pho 2000 (the one beside Ben Thanh market, made famous by Bill Clinton's visit, hence the high price of 55,000 dong each - twice the price of Pho at other places)

Went to Ben Thanh market and bought a cap for the Cu Chi trip the next day. Hubby bought T-shirt :)

Next, we venture off in search of Fanny.

Passed by Huyunh Thuc Khang Street Market and found street snacks.

We saw 2 motobikes and a 3-4 persons, crowding round a lady selling snacks from 2 baskets by the road. We choose a couple of items which the locals bought (using hand signals and pointing). Each item cost ard 5,000 dong each. For 3 items, it costs less than 1 SGD.

First is an orangy glutinous rice thingy, a hint of spiciness... Hubby prefer this to the other two.


Second item is this thing wrapped in leaves. A guy on a bike bought a huge bags of this so we had to try too!

Its actually glutinous rice again, but the purplish thing inside is banana.
The last item, is my favourite.

I saw something wrapped in banana leaf and comes with 2 small packets of condiments. It even comes with a plastic spoon - how thoughtful.

Inside the banana leaf is some whitish stuff (dont know what is it, and some yellowish stuff which I think is mung bean paste). For condiments, one pack is dried shallots, another pack is sugar. Mixed them all together and u have a crunch and tasty snack!




Next, we went to Fanny at Ton That Thiep street. An ice cream palor that is fancy and expensive by local standards. Our ice creams costs 60,000 - 85,000 dong each. Very intensively flavoured fruity ice cream. Must try!










Went to Art Museum, Notre-Dame Catheral and Post office

Dinner: At La Nicoise (Ngo Duc Ke, Dong Khoi area). No photos here. We wanted to try french food and saw great reviews on the tripadvisor. End up, its not french but they serve decent steak and the steak was done well. Dinner costs around 350,000 dong.


Day 2 - Day of the Cu Chi Tunnel tour.

Took cab directly to Pham Ngu Lao area and looked for breakfast. Saw this roadside stall that sells Ban Minh and decided to try. Its a sit down roadside stall (the dirtiest we tried), the lady was washing plates right next to me! Breakfast costs 55,000 dong.

Stir fry instant noodles with beef. Saw a guy ordered this so we 'copy' him. Surprisingly super delicious! Hubby loved it to bits. Even better after squeezing some lime over it. Not oily at all. Cooked with lots of kai lan and 3 huge slices of tomato.
Banh Mi served here is DIY style. The baguette and vegetables is served on the side. 2 eggs (maybe even 3) cooked in a mini wok with butter, a slab of pate. A bit too oily for me... but still very good.

Very pleased with our breakfast find. Breakfast is not complete without coffee. Had vietnamese drip coffee at a proper sit down 'coffee shop' where ang mos have their breakfasts. Costs 15,000 dong per cup.





The Cu Chi tunnel half day tour will return us to Pham Ngu Lao area by 2:30pm. By 11am, i am already feeling hunger pangs. Inside the cu chi tunnel area, we stopped briefly for some guys to try live firing using real bullets guns. We bought BBQ corn from the stalls (10,000 dong each) and is super sweet and tasty after sprinkling some salt and pepper over it!

The bus dropped us at Ben Thanh market at around 2pm and we went to a roadside stall we spotted during day 1. They have english menu! Total meal cost 100,000 dong. The guy pointed to the dishes we order and began talking in vietnamese '!%&*(, $%^**(, %&*()) , one hundred dong'. Don't know why but i found it funny and laughed out loud. They didnt charge us for the drink :)

Asked for a drink we saw the locals having everywhere we go. Something they called 'Cho'. Not sweeten, tasted like its made from a plant extract. Not much taste but very refreshing.

We ordered
- Fried glutinuous rice, topped with fried shallots and shredded chicken, served with a tangy and sweet sauce
- Vietnamese spring roll served with peanut sauce. They gave us two small bowls of the peanut sauce and had small spoons in it. The spring rolls are quite bland, lots of vege including basil which we dont like.
- Vietnamese wanton. The skin is like the crystal dumplings in Singapore, chewly texture. The meat is nice, served with fried shallots, some uncooked vege and chilli.
 Lastly, we had a bowl of bamboo shoot and duck noodles. The bamboo shoot is very fresh and crunchy. Soup is light and refreshing. Loved the generous serving of spring onions and cilantros. Yum!

After lunch, we did shopping at Ben Thanh (weasle coffee powder, cashew nut and a lacquer vase) and sat down for dessert at a stall inside Ben Thanh market.

Costs 20,000 dong each. There are stools around the stall and we ordered and sit down to eat, holding the cups in our hands.

The drink on the left is longan drink. Contains dried longan, ginko nut, strips of agar agar, some seaweed look a like thingy and other bits and pieces of unknowns.

The drink on the right is called Tri-colour if i remember correctly. It has fresh coconut milk (taste so much nicer than the packed ones used in chendols and bo bo char chars in Singapore) and is akin to Chendol without gula melaka. My favourite is the white beans in there. Super soft and sweet.

After desserts, we had shots of 'cho', for free.


For dinner, we are determined to have french food, so we went to La Fourchette, known for 'solid french food'. The food there is expensive for local standards, but much cheaper compared to Singapore. Total bill comes up to 1 million dong, which is around 60-70SGD.

Our entree is more expensive than our main course. It's foi gras (duck liver) from France.
This alone costs over 300,000 dong but a must try.

This foi gras is nicer than the ones we had in Paris. Heavenly...

2 thick slabs of foi gras, served with 2 slices of toast, salad and some soup made into jelly.


This is our second entree, french Onion soup.
I always wanted to try authentic french onion soup.

Very rich clear broth, and slices of onion, topped with 3 slices of crispy toast (the sides remains crispy after being soaked in the soup!) topped with cheese.








We feel full after the entrees. Oh no!

After clearing the entree, the resturant served us a huge glass of yellowish stuff. Guess what is it? MUSTARD!


Now for the main course, I had duck confit. 

After watching Jamie Oliver on TV and knowing how duck confit is made, I am curious about the taste.

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, served with crispy diced potatoes (made with real potatoes and had bits of onions mixed together) and french beans sauted with butter.
Hubby had duck breast, done to perfection. Tender and moist but not too bloody, served with potato pie and french beans.












Day 3 - Breakfast at a Pho restaurant beside our apartment. Costs 22,000 dong per bowl.

Had beef and chicken pho. Decent and clean, no complains. We added 'you tiao' which cost a few thousand dongs. Super crispy, hubby tried one and dont like it, said they uses stale oil. I love it as its super crispy. Had the remaining three all by myself!

They served 'Cho'  here as well. Free. But doesn't mean you will want to try it. The locals drink cho from shot glasses on the table. The shot glasses are shared, I assume, as it looked very dirty.





Then we walked to the Jade Emperor pagoda followed by a visit to An Dong market. Appears to be a wholesale market for clothes. Bought some coconut tree chopsticks and spatulas from the top floor. From the basement, some preserved duck meat and pig liver sausages, some fried ikan bilis and more cashew nuts!

Time for lunch but we are in a hurry to visit War Remnant meseum. Search for a Banh Mi stall and found one opposite the market. Its a stall setup outside the owner's house. Ordered one, tried it, and ordered another! Costs 15,000 each.

First, she cuts the baguette open, spread a generous amount of partially melted butter and pate on the inside. Went into the house and returned 2-3 mins later with the toasted bagette and fried egg. Then add fresh cucumber, pickled radish, cilantro and 4 slices of ham at our request. We opt out of sliced chilli. 


Bite into it and we realises how well everything goes. Bliss.













For dinner, we decided to have vietnamese food. Nha Hang Ngon is rank no. 1 on tripadvisor and is near where we stay (Somerset Chancellor)












We order blood cockles ('hum'). We dont stir fry blood cockles in Singapore. In vietnam, their stir fry it so the sauce coats the shell. Messy to eat but the sauce is very good. I will suck on the shell, open it, pull out the flesh and dip into the sauce again. Its served with lime and salt on the side. Dip into it and the cockles has a refreshing taste as well.






















Grilled oysters with herbs, served with lime and salt as well. Fresh oysters. Taste wise, its fresh oysters lor :) 












Broken rice (porridge) with braised pork and preserved radish. I ordered this for the braised pork. i know that there is a vietnamese version of braised pork that is cooked with coconut juice. Hoping this is the one but the pork belly that comes with it is not nice at all. Very fattening and hard. Not nice.

The porridge on its own, has a natural sweetness and a fragrant similar to that of barley. Good on its own. A pleasant surprise! And the preserve radish, goes super duper well with the porridge and on its own. The porridge and radish alone, will make me order this again - if there is a next time!

Lastly, pork chop with rice and crispy pork skin. The pork chop is well marinated and nicely grilled. Goes very well with the white rice. The so call crispy pork skin is not crispy. Eaten together with the rice does gives the rice an interesting texture.

Total damage ~ 350,000 dong.







Day 4 - Last day in HCMC, had the hotel breakfast buffet.

Followed by another trip to Ben Thanh market to get some more lacquerware.

Then lunch at L'Etoile which serves french fast food - accordingly to lonely planet.
BAD BAD CHOICE. Costs 150,000 dong. Have photos but not worth my effort to load them here. 

The salad has a bad taste. We feedback to the waiter but he claimed that its the 'special dressing'.
Two small and tough cuts of pork, homemade pasta swimming in tomato sauce is edible.
The dish is served on a metal tray with different compartments (image those used in prisons used by the inmates you see in TV)

The only consolation here is the scrimp ravioli soup (which taste very similar to our wanton soup) and the iced black cofee.

Lastly, our last contribution to the Vietnam economy, had 2 cups of cuppacinos and a ham sandwich in the airport for USD 13!.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Pasta craze

Hubby exclaimed(!!) that doesn't like tomato based pasta so I have not attempted to make pasta for dinner for the past couple of years. i guess he juz don't like noodles in ketchup.

As usual, one day i saw minced beef on sale and decided to make my own bolognese sauce using fresh tomato instead of the canned/bottled tomato pasta sauce.

He loved it and there is no turning back from there on... it has now become our friday dinners as its so easy to eat from the plate, with a fork, in front of the tv. We just shove it down our throats!

The basic ingredients are minced beef, fresh tomato (diced), garlic, onion, mixed herbs, some ketchup/chilli sauce (leftover from fast food delivery), salt & sugar to taste... takes approximately 30 - 45 mins of cooking for all the ingredients to come together.


 Bolognese & Tagliatelle
Bolognese & Linguine & packet chilli flakes & cheese (leftovers from pizza delivery!)
 Bolognese & Linguine & freshly shaved parmasan cheese
And when sliced beef is on sale, i make stir fried sliced beef with parsley and linguine in black pepper sauce

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Chap Chye (Mixed vegetables)

Chap chye - this dish is good for entertaining as you can cook this way in advance and simply heat up when ready to serve. Delicious, nutritious and wholesome. Is there anyone out there who doesn't like chap chye? I love it! Maybe its a hokkien thing... but the nonyas also have chap chye so it must be a teochew thing as well. Haha.











What do i have in my chap chye?
- Cabbage
- Dried shitake mushroom (dried)
- Monkeyhead mushroom (dried)
- Black fungus (dried)
- Golden needles (dried)
- Dried scrimps
- Garlic
- Spring onion
- Chicken

Wow!!! Thats a lot of stuff for one dish huh? No wonder i end up with a HUGE plate everytime i cook chap chye. A bit of everything thrown in turns out a HUGE portion. Greedy me....

Oh yah, in case you are wondering... I am a hainanese...

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Coconut soup

Coconut soup - tasted it when a friend cooked it for a gathering (i know u are reading this)

Stunned by how sweet and clean the taste is...

i have cooked it several times so far - never failed to impress me everytime

What do u need?
(Serves 1 - Intense flavour)
1 young coconut - both the juice and the white flesh
1 piece of chicken
1 bowl of water

How to do it?
Put all the ingredients into a double boiler and double boil for 45 mins

For a less intense soup for more persons to share, simply use about 2 coconuts and 1 chicken carcass..... i will also add some red dates and some dried scallops....

You must try this...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Braised Duck

Braised duck or 'Lor Ark' in hokkien, its my mum's signature dish. I have eaten this for years but this is my first time doing it.

Its an impulse decision to make it. Two simple reason:
1) Saw a lone duck lying in the NTUC chiller
2) Going to MIL place for dinner that night and a duck is just the right dish to share for 4 pax

What do u need?
1 medium sized duck
1 star anise
1 cinnamon (cracked open)
1 large piece of ginger (sliced and flatten)
4 cloves of garlic (flatten)
2 tablespoon of sugar
4/5 bowl of dark soya sauce
Water

How to do it?

Fry star anise, cinnamon, ginger, garlic in oil until fragrant and brown
Add sugar and fry until all sugar is melted
Add dark soya sauce followed by enough water to submerge the duck halfway to three thirds of the way. Duck breast side down first, bring to boil on high heat, then turn to medium low and continue to simmer. Close pot with lid. Turn every 15 mins. Can add more water mid way if there is not enough water for cooking the duck. Everytime you add water, remember to bring to boil before turning down the heat to simmer.
Cook for 1 hr or 1 hr 15 mins for really tender duck meat. At the end of the cooking, there should be about 1/3 of the gravy left to go with the duck. Remove duck and leave to cool before cutting. If the gravy is too watery, continue to cook it after removing duck to evaporate the excess water. During this time, you can 'cheat' by adjusting the taste (adding more soya sauce if too sweet, or adding more sugar if too salty).