I was so fascinated when I saw a youtuber was having a plate of pandan nasi lemak aka coconut milk rice. I am a big fan of pandan. I like any food with pandan flavour, especially sweet dessets.
The green colour, soft and fluffy rice grain instantly captured my heart. I was drooling away when I saw the food clip, and I knew I needed to make a plate of pandan nasi lemak. A plate of nasi lemak is pretty simple to make, especially when using the rice cooker. All you need are rice, coconut milk, salt and water. The pandan extract is just something extra for pandan flavour and colouring.
Ingredients
2 cups white rice
400ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp pandan extract
a pinch of salt
some water
Directions
1. Rinse and drain the rice. Place the drained rice in the rice cooker.
2. Add coconut milk, salt and pandan extract.
3. Add in additional water until it reaches the 2-cup mark shown in the rice cooker. (The amount of water required varies according to the type of rice cooker you are using. Please follow the measurement guidelines of your rice cooker).
4. Switch on the rice cooker and cook the rice.
5. Fluff up the rice and serve it hot with your favourite side dishes.
Nasi lemak is best to enjoy with sambal, as side dish. Check out my luxurious version of nasi lemak, with the best in town sambal shrimps and acar aka pickled carrot, pineapple and cucumber.
Click here for the 5 Minutes Sambal Shrimps recipe.
Shopping in the Asian grocers can be like treasure hunting for me. It can be full of surprises, or it can be of disappointments. There are times I discover great ingredients unexpectedly; there are times I struggle to find the ingredients that I am looking for. This is exactly the experience I have with a bottle of Way Sambal Sauce.
Sambal aka spicy chili paste is not an easy dish to make at home (for me) as it required more than 10 types of spices or ingredients. Some of the ingredients are beyond reached such as galangal, shrimps paste, kaffir lime leaves etc. I may need to travel to the Asian grocer next towns for some of the ingredients. So it does not cross my mind at all to attempt any homemade sambal sauce.
One day while shopping in the Asian grocer, I unexpectedly discovered a hidden jam – Way Sambal Sauce. I was in joy and quickly grabbed a bottle and added it into my shopping cart without checking the price tag. Ingredients like these are scarce and I am willing to pay a premium price for it, so long it can save me a lot of works and time. (By the way, a bottle of 200g sambal sauce costs ~ 4.5 EUR).
I fell in love with the sambal sauce as it tastes super good, as good as the sambal served in restaurants. I regretted for not buying an extra bottle as the next round when I shopped in the Asian grocer, it has been out-of-stock. I doubt it would be restocked any time sooner since it is not an item by popular demand.
Anyway, enough with the grandmother story. Let's start cooking now.
Ingredients
1 bottle Way Sambal Sauce (200g)
300g shrimps
2 onions (sliced)
1/2 lime
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
cooking oil
Directions
1. Heat up some cooking oil in the pan, stir fry the onion for 5 min or turn translucent.
2. Add in the sambal sauce. Stir fry for 1 min.
3. Add in the shrimps, sugar and salt. Stir for 3-4 min until the shrimps are cooked.
4. Squeeze in the lime juice, ready to serve.
This is the sequel of my radish cake's affair. Other than the pan fried radish cake which I shared in my earlier post (check out post), another best way to enjoy the radish cake is through stir-fry. Stir-fry radish cake is also one of the popular dishes to order in most of the dim sum restaurants.
One of the key ingredients for the stir-fry radish cake is actually the preserved turnip. Preserved radish is pretty common ingredient for Asian cooking and can be easily found in most of the Asian grocers. They are preserved food with high contain of sodium, hence, you will need to soak them in the water and rinse them under the water few times to mellow down the saltiness taste before you can use them for cooking.
No special technique required for the stir fry. However the sequence of the ingredients added into the wok must be taken note, in order to avoid bitter taste garlic or burned preserved radish.
Ingredients
500g steamed radish cake (cut into cubes)
50g preserved radish (chopped)
4 eggs (beaten)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 stalk spring onion (chopped)
2 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
cooking oil
Directions
1. Heat up oil in a wok, add in the radish cakes which have been cut into cubes. Pan fryfor 2-3 min.
2. Add in the preserved radish and garlic. Stir fry for 1-2 min.
3. Spread the radish cakes evenly and pour in the egg mixture.
4. Once egg is cooked, flip the radish cakes using the spatula.
5. Add in the seasoning (dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, salt and sugar) and stir fry for few minutes until all the radish cakes are well coated/coloured.
6. Off the heat, sprinkle some chopped spring onion on top and serve hot.
My last visit to SB was a fruitful one as I brought back home a stalk of fat radish. I used half for my oden soup (check out my previous post) and saved the other half for radish cake. I always order the pan fried radish cake when I patron at the dim sum restaurants. So far the radish cake by Full Moon Restaurant, The Hague tops my list. I simply fall in love with the texture - not too soft or too hard, and you can taste the chunky shredded radish in every bite of the savoury radish cake.
If you are lucky, you may get the ready-made radish cake from the Asian grocers, usually at the frozen food section. Since it cannot be found in the Asian grocers here, I attempted to make my own, in order to satisfy my craving for radish cake. It could be pretty time consuming to make a pan of radish cake, but it could be rewarding after all. I wouldn't say my radish cake is perfect, but I am super proud of my radish cake as they tasted so good. But I regretted for not making it in a bigger quantity.
Ingredients
800g grated radish
300g rice flour
560g water
4 tbsp dried shrimps (soak in water for 20min, chopped)
4-5 tbsp shallot oil
salt and pepper
Oil for pan-frying
Directions
Steamed radish cake
1. In a mixing bowl, add in rice flour and water. Stir well until no lumps.
2. In the pan, add in shallot oil, chopped dried shrimps, grated radish, salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 3-5 min.
3. Add in the rice flour and water mixture. Constantly stir until the batter is slightly thickened.
4. Transfer the radish batter into a baking pan and steam it for 15-18min under medium high heat.
(Do grease the baking pan surface with some oil beforehand).
5. Cool the steamed radish cake in room temperature.
Stir-fry radish cake
6. Cut the radish cake into 4x4cm square.
7. Heat up some oil in the skillet. Pan-fry the radish cake until both sides are lightly browned.
The radish cake is ready to be served. Don't forget to enjoy it with a dash of spicy sriracha chili sauce. Yum!
I made chicken dumplings today and I also made some homemade spicy chili oil to go with the dumplings. The chili oil is very simple to make and you can actually make a big amount and store them in the bottles for later use. The bottled chili oil can last for 2 weeks, if kept in room temperature. You may store it for longer, up to 3 months, when store in the refrigerator.
The chili oil is so versatile that you can use it for almost anything i.e. sauce for dry noodle, spicy soup base for ramen or even any type of stir- fry dishes. Let’s check out how simple it is to make your own chili oil at home.
Ingredients
4 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp grind pepper
2 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1 stalk spring onion (chopped)
Directions
1. Mix chili powder, grind pepper, salt, sugar, garlic and spring onion in a bowl.
2. In a pan, heat up oil.
3. Once the oil is heated, slowly pour the over the chili mix.
4. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Stir well.
I first made the dish few months ago. It was a great success and I was super thrill on how delicious the dish tasted. I was drooling awhile when the dish was done. I was so eager to sample the dish and totally forgot to snap a photo of the final dish. By the time I realized, the dish was half gone.
Since I love the dish so much, I am making it again ^_^. I used shrimps for my previous dish, but I am using plaice aka flatfish for today's recipe. You can use any types of white fish. As for the Nestum cereal, they can be found in the Asian grocers.
Ingredients
250g plaice (sliced)
2 tsp egg white
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cooking wine
15g plain flour
15g corn starch
40g butter
cooking oil
Cereal Mixture
1 cup Nestum cereal
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp milk powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Directions
1. Marinate the fish fillets with egg white, salt, pepper and cooking wine. Marinate for 30min.
2. Mix plain flour and corn-starch together, mix well. Coat the marinated fish fillets in the flour (both sides).
3. Heat up cooking oil in the pan. Pan-fry the fish until both sides are lightly browned. Set aside.
4. In the pan, add in butter. Once butter is melted, add in the cereal mix. Stir fry for 2-3 min.
5. Add in the fish fillets into the pan again. Lightly stir until all the fish fillets are well coated with the cereal.
Note: If you are using the 3-in-1 Nestum cereal sachet, please skip adding sugar and milk powder.
I do not usually shop at SB. I somehow made an unusual trip there early of the month because my vitamin supply was running low and I need to restock :( Guess what I spotted in the fresh produce section while shopping in SB? Daikon radish!!
Ever since my first try of daikon radish oden in Osaka few years back, I instantly fell in love with daikon radish. Daikon radish is rare to find in common supermarkets here, so there is no way I could go home without it. I happily brought back home the fattest stalk which I could find in the supermarket and made my favourite oden hotpot for dinner that night.
Daikon radish in the hotpot are usually cut into huge chucks for stewing. This it to prevent the radish from tearing apart after long hours of cooking. In the interest of time, I cut my radish into bite size to speed up the cooking time. I also used the instant dashi powder for my oden soup.
Ingredients
500g daikon radish (cut into bite size cubes)
1 sachet instant dashi powder
1 litre water
1 cube Knorr vegetable cube
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
a pint of salt
1 stalk spring onion (chopped)
fish cakes (variety)
1 carrot (bite size cubes) - optional
Directions
1. With 1 litre water in cooking pot, add in instant dashi powder, vegetable cube, soya sauce, carrot and daikon radish. Cook until daikon radish turn soft.
2. Add in fish cakes, sugar and salt. Cook for 3-5 min or until fish cakes are cooked.
3. Sprinkle chopped spring onion and serve the soup hot.
Pantry ingredients which are normally found in the supermarkets are now hard to find in this lockdown period. So, I try to compromise with any substitutes that come close to the ingredients I usually use for my baking. Dry yeast is unavailable, so I opt for fresh yeast instead.
I am new to fresh yeast, so I did a little experiment with this simple pancake recipe, commonly known as peanuts pancake aka apam. I like how my pancakes turn out to be with the fresh yeast. The pancakes are way softer and fluffier in texture, as compared to the one I made with dry yeast. That tells why traditional bakeries opt for fresh yeast to dry yeast.
As per the name of the pancake i.e. peanut pancake, the filling is always crushed peanut with sugar. However unsalted peanuts are hard to find in the supermarkets here, I then replaced the peanuts filling with hazelnut spread aka Nutella. Nutella pairs perfectly with the pancakes and I like it a lot. If you are interested, do check out the recipe for the pancake with fresh yeast. The pancake mixture can make 3 large pieces of pancakes.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cube fresh yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Filling
hazelnut spread - Nutella
some sugar
some salted butter
Other filling options: grind peanuts, creamy sweet corn, grind sesame with sugar
Directions
1. Mix 1/2 cube fresh yeast with some warm water. Set aside for 10 min.
2. In a mixing bowl, add in wheat flour, baking soda, salt, yeast mixture, egg, vanilla extract. Mix well till no lumps. Set aside to rest for at least 40 min.
3. Heat up the non-stick pan, pour in some batter and spread the batter evenly.
4. Sprinkle some sugar. Cover with lid and simmer for 2-3 min under low heat.
5. Place some butter. Cook until the butter is melted and the edges are lightly brown.
6. Smear generous amount of Nutella on the pancake, flip the pancake to half and serve.
Frikadeller are flat, pan-fried meatballs. They come in many variations - fish, chicken, pork and even mashed potato frikadeller. You can easily buy the ready-made frikadeller from the supermarkets here, but the mashed potato version are hard to find here. I usually go for either the fish or chicken frikadeller. Somehow, I made a mistake during my last visit to the supermarket. I accidentally bought a pack of the pork frikadeller.
Pork frikadeller can be a bit too gamey for me. Therefore, I would need to think of a gravy or sauce that could cut through the gamey taste of the pork frikadeller. Tangy tomato based sauce would be perfect choice. Check out my recipe here.
Ingredients
4 pre-cooked frikadeller
2 tomatoes (cut into wedges)
2 potatoes (cut into bite-size cubes)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlics (minced)
cooking oil
Sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 pinch salt
100ml water
cornflour solution (1 1/2 tbsp cornflour + 1 tbsp water)
pepper to taste
Optional
2 eggs (sunny side-up)
Directions
1. Pan fry the frikadeller until both side are browned. Set aside
2. Pan fry the potato cubes until slightly browned and cooked. Set aside.
3. Heat up the wok with some cooking oil. Add in the carrot, peas and onion and stir fry for 3 mins.
4. Add in the tomato wedges and water. Simmer for about 5 mins.
5. Add in the pre-mixed sauce, then thicken the sauce with cornflour solution.
6. Add in the potatoes and stir well.
7. Lastly add-in the frikadeller into the cooked sauce and simmer for 1-2 mins.
I have 2 sunny side-up eggs ready for extra creamy taste. The runny egg york complemented the dish perfectly. Yum!
Cold winter makes me too lazy for heavy cooking. I am hungry yet I am not in the mood to cook. At the same time, my tummy is so reluctant to be satisfied by instant noodles.
There is some left over rice in the fridge, and I think I can make something out of it. I rummage through my little pantry and I found a packet of furikake. Boom ... let's make a handmade onigiri with it.
I am making the egg-mayo onigiri. The ingredients are rather simple: a hard-boiled egg, salt and pepper to taste, mayonnaise, cooked rice and furikake aka onigiri seasoning.
Instructions
1. Use a fork, slightly break the hard-boiled egg into small pieces. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mixed well.
2. Spread the rice evenly on a cling film (to form a square shape)
3. Sprinkle some furikake on top of the spread rice. Lightly press the furikake onto the surface of the rice, so they stick.
4. On another cling film, flip the rice over with the furikake surface facing down.
5. Spread the egg-mayo mix on the rice.
6. Use both of your hands to squeeze the rice and form a rice ball or rice square. Make sure the egg-mayo filling is well covered by the rice.
Tips
Avoid putting too much of egg-mayo filling into the rice ball as they may over-flow and you will have difficulty to seal the onigiri.
Less than 5 minutes to prepare, simple yet hearty. The only downside with it is, I used overnight rice for the recipe. I would have used warm rice instead for better texture.
There wasn’t a plan to cook rendang dishes for the weekend, somehow I spotted the rendang spice pre-mixed pack from the Asian grocer. Out of curiosity, I bought a packet for a try.
The instructions (as stated on the packaging) to prepare the dish was rather simple, as contrasted to the usual way to prepare the dish. I was a bit skeptical with the taste of the end product as I suspected it might not taste like the usual rendang which I am familiar to. I was completely right !! The dish did not at all look or taste like rendang, in fact, it tasted like the spicy version of curry chicken. Don’t get me wrong, even though it didn’t taste like rendang, but the overall taste of the dish was good.
My rendang curry was rather watery than I expected. Perhaps I wasn't patient enough with the simmering process. I should have waited for a bit longer until the gravy was thicken. Anyway I quite like the dish. I would name my dish as 'spicy creamy chicken curry' instead of rendang curry.
Ingredients
1 packet Indonesian Rendang Curry spice paste by Asian Home Gourmet
450g chicken breast (cut into cubes)
440ml coconut milk
2 tbsp cooking oil
salt to taste
kaffir lime leaves as garnish (optional)
Instructions
1. Heat up cooking oil in the pan. Add spice paste and stir-fry for half a minute.
2. Add in chicken meat and stir-fry for 2 min.
3. Pour in coconut milk and bring to boil. Simmer the rendang for 30 min under low heat.
4. Lift the cover, continue to simmer for another 20 min until the meat is tender and gravy almost dry.
I am on sweet potato pancakes' spell and I have made the pancakes twice in a week. Reason ... I just can't enough of these pancakes. They are simply addictive and you will just snack and snack until you realize you have just tagged in the last piece of pancake on the plate. Trust me, they taste super good and you will not be satisfied with just a single slice. Make sure you make more :).
These sweet potato pancakes are not to make though, what you need are just 4 ingredients: 350g sweet potatoes, 1 cup of glutinous rice flour, 5g of sugar (adjust according to your taste) and some cooking oil for pan-fry purposes.
Directions
1. Cut the sweet potatoes to slices and steam under high heat for 15min until they turn soft.
2. Smash the steamed sweet potatoes in a mix bowl. Add in the glutinous rice flour and sugar. With hand, mix everything well until they combine into a dough form.
3. Cover both palms with some glutinous rice flour. Place some dough on your palm, roll it into a compact ball then flatten it into a pancake about 1/2 inch thick.
~Repeat the same process until all all the dough are done~
4. Heat up the skillet with 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Pan-fry the pancake at medium high heat until both sides turn golden brown.
The pancakes serve as an ideal afternoon snack and are best enjoyed while they are warm. They go absolutely well with a cup of hot tea. What an indulgence during a cold afternoon.
Basically there are two type of porridge I know of - Cantonese style porridge and Teow Chew style porridge. What are the differences between the two. The Cantonese style porridge is thicker in texture and it is more flavourful, because it is usually cooked with other ingredients such as chicken, pork or fish. Thus you can eat it on its own without any side dishes. The Teow Chew style porridge, on the other hand, is plain in taste and is diluted in term of texture. It is usually eaten with other side dishes. Pretty similar with plain rice i.e. a form of carbs, but less solid and usually suitable for babies or elderly who can hardly chew solid food.
I personally prefer the Cantonese style porridge over the Teow chew style, because I like the thick and smooth texture of it. Nevertheless, it is less hassle to prepare as you can just chuck everything into the pot and cook it at one go. I refer it as 'one-pot-meal'.
The only hassle of the cooking is, you need to stir the porridge pretty often to avoid burning at the bottom of the pot. However, the bright side of the constant stirring is, it helps to smoothen the grain and the porridge will turn thick and smooth without to blend it with the electronic blender.
For today's recipe, I will showcase my way of making the Cantonese chicken balls porridge.
Ingredients
Porridge
1 cup rice
8 cup water
1 chicken cube
4-5 slices of ginger
salt (good amount)
Chicken Balls
150g minced chicken
1 tbsp. soy sauce
sugar, pepper and salt to taste
Optional: ginger and chili (finely chopped)
Garnish or toppings
fried shallots
dried scallions flakes
ginger stripes
white pepper
sesame oil
soy sauce
Directions
1. Wash and soak rice for overnight.
2. In a mixing bowl, add minced chicken, soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, ginger and chili. Mix well and put a side for 15-20 min (marinate purpose).
3. Form the chicken mixture to 2-3cm diameter wide meatballs. Set aside for later use.
4. In a cooking pot, add rice, water, ginger slices and chicken cubes and bring to boil.
5. Once rice is boiling, turn heat to medium low and continue to cook for another 20-30 min.
* Constantly stir the porridge to avoid burning at the bottom of the pot.
* Add in extra water if require.
6. Once the porridge turns thick and creamy in texture, add enough amount of salt.
7. Slowly add in the chicken meatballs into the porridge (medium low heat).
8. Porridge is ready to be served once the chicken meatballs are thoroughly cooked.
9. Garnish the porridge with a dash of white pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, fried shallots, ginger strips and scallions.
Porridge is simply a must-have dish during fall/winter!
Ada dished out a small bowl of boiled chickpeas as appetiser. I was fascinated with the dish as they tasted very good - light and refreshing. It is the kind of healthy snack which I can snack all day long without worrying extra calories. As information from the internet, 100g contains just 164 calories (Click here)
The recipe shared by Ada is very simple - just dried chickpeas, salt and water. The ingredients are although simple, it is a bit time consuming to cook the chickpeas. That's the main reason why most of the people opt the canned chickpeas instead of the dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are no doubt convenience but they are less healthy since they are packed with excessive salt, sugar and preservative.
Ingredients
400g dried chickpeas
2 liter water
salt for flavouring
Directions
1. Wash dried chickpeas and sock them in the water overnight.
2. In a big pot with 2 liter of water, boil the socked chickpeas at high heat for 15-20 min.
3. Add in good amount of salt.
4. Remove the bubbles with a strainer and continue to boil the chickpeas at a medium heat for another 30-40 min, until the chickpeas soften.
To check whether the chickpeas are thoroughly cooked, you may take a chickpea out and press it using a folk. If it breaks easily with a light press, this indicates that they are cooked. Otherwise, continue to boil them for a couple of minutes.
Chickpeas are so versatile; you may use them for salad, vegetarian curry, chili, hummus etc. You may prepare a big batch in one go and store them in the freezer for later use. Another good tip is to pre-soak the dried chickpeas for overnight to cut down the cooking time.
Early of the year, I had posted a recipe of herbal chicken soup recipe using spice mixed by Tean's Gourmet. But this time round, I am trying a new brand called Mo Sang Kor. Initially I have no intention to include it on my blog as Mo Sang Kor is not the brand I would go for when come to chicken soup. However after the first sip of the flavorful broth, I was instantly convinced that this is the best herbal chicken soup herbs and spices mixed which I would definitely go back again.
For those who love herbal chicken soup, I strongly recommend you give this brand a try. The soup tastes authentic and is comparable with the herbal chicken soup which you can get from the famous restaurants. Unlike other brands I had tried, the herbal taste of Mo Sang Kor is much stronger and flavorful, while the other brands tasted a bit diluted. I prefer the stronger herbal taste for my chicken soup. For pre-mixed packets by other brands, I usually use lesser amount of water than recommended i.e. I use 1.5 liter of water instead of the recommended 2 liter. With Mo Sang Kor spices mixed, there is no trace of diluted flavor even with 2 liter of water. Thumb up!
Ingredients
1 packet Mo Sang Kor chicken soup herbs & spices mixed
800g chicken drumsticks
2 liter water
3 gloves garlic
8 pieces mushrooms
3 tsp thick soy sauce
3 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste
Optional: 200g baby corns, 1 stalk of carrot (sliced), coriander
Directions
1. In a pot, bring 2 liter of water to boil.
2. Add in herbs & spices mixed, chicken drumsticks, mushrooms, carrot into the boiling water.
3. Boil for 30-40 min under medium-low heat.
4. Add in baby corns and salt, simmer for 5-8 min.
5. Add coriander then serve.
Knowing that I am a big fan of rendang curry dish, my friend bought me a pack of pre-mixed rendang curry paste all the way from South East Asia to try on. It is the instant rendang curry paste by Masfood.
I highly recommend this instant rendang paste as it is so simple to prepare and it tastes pretty good. Not to mention, it is very time saving i.e. you can basically cut down the prep time (for a delicious bowl of rendang curry) to half with this instant premixed sauce. Check out the simple instructions below.
The only hurdle had was - to prepare the pre-fried coconut shreds, also known as 'kerisk' in Malay. I have no idea what kerisk is. It refers as 'pre-fried coconut shreds' as stated on the packaging. So without much hesitation, I just browned 100g of dried coconut shreds on the frying-pan, and added them into my rendang curry as per the instructions given. It turned out that the pan-browned dried coconut shreds failed to integrate into the curry gravy, instead they floated as 'foreign objects' in the gravy. The pro is, the dried coconut shreds added body to the gravy. However the downside is, the gravy missed its smoothness i.e. you may bite into crunchy and chewy coconut shreds. After all, it did not affect at all the taste of the rendang curry.
My advice to all is the get the ready-made kerisik if you can get from your local Asian grocers. If you can't find it, just skip it.
Ingredients
1 packet MasFood Instant Rendang Curry Paste
1kg chicken meat
300ml water
250ml coconut milk
100g pre-fried coconut shreds (kerisek)
Directions
1. Stir fry chicken drumsticks with the rendang paste over low heat until aromatic.
2. Add in water and coconut milk to simmer until chicken drumsticks are tender and the gravy becomes thicker.
3. Add in the coconut shreds and cook for few minutes.
I love scallion pancakes but find them too troublesome to prepare them at home. I tried to look for the frozen scallion pancakes from the Asian grocers. Too bad, only the paratha flatbreads were available. I was later told by the shop owner that I can make the simplified version of scallion pancakes with the gyoza wraps. The instructions given sounded simple and I decided to give the recipe a try.
Overall the 'gyoza wraps' scallion pancakes tasted pretty good. In term of taste, they tastes pretty similar to the conversional pancake. However for texture wise, they are way too hard and dry. The fluffy texture of the traditional scallion pancakes could not be reached with this simplified method. The hard and dry texture can be further improved by coating pancakes (cooked) with some egg mixture and pan-fry them on a skillet with some cooking oil. 1-2 minutes per side will do (or until the egg mixture is cooked).
Ingredients
1 packet gyoza wraps
scallions (chopped)
cooking oil
salt
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, add in chopped scallions, cooking oil and salt. Mix well.
2. Lay 2 sheets of gyoza wraps on a table top. Spread the scallion mixture evenly on the gyoza wrap surface. Sandwiched the scallion mixture with another 2 sheet of gyoza wraps.
3. With a rolling pin, roll the gyoza wraps flat until it becomes a single sheet.
4. In a hot skillet, pan-fry till both side turn golden brown.
Note: If you prefer a greasy version, you may heat up some cooking oil on the skillet before pan-fry the pancake. I skipped the step for a healthier version.
Yes, I am making red sauce chicken, aka ayam masak merah again! What differentiated from my previous ayam masak merah is, this is a spicy version. I am using the same premix sauce by Maggi's brand, but with some twist. I am super satisfied with the improvised recipe as it tastes as good as the ayam masak merah dish which you can find at the local malay stalls. (check out my older post here)
For my first attempt, I followed the cooking instructions on the packet. It was not quite the taste and consistency I was looking for. Perhaps I should have been using chicken drumsticks og chicken thighs instead of size bite chicken breast.
I personally think extra chili powder and chili flakes have done a fantastic touch to the dish. Another key point is, use chicken drumsticks instead chicken breast. Chicken breast can turn dry and hard when cook for long.
Ingredients
800g of chicken drumsticks
1 packet of Maggi's Masak Merah pre-mixed sauce
3 onion (sliced)
2 tomato (cut into cubes)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp chili flakes
3 tbsp ketchup (tomato sauce)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
80 ml water
salt and sugar to taste
Marinate for chicken drumsticks
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
Directions
1. Marinate the chicken drumsticks with turmeric powder and soy sauce.
2. Heat up cooking oil in the skillet. Pan-fry chicken drumsticks till golden brown. Dish out, set aside for later use.
3. Mix Maggi's Masak Merah powder with chili powder, chili flakes and water. Stir well.
4. In the same pan, pour in the sauce mixture and bring to boil.
5. Add in the chicken drumsticks, sliced onions, tomato cubes and tomato sauce. Stir well and cook for 5 min.
6. Add lemon juice, salt and sugar. Stir well and cook for another 3-5 min.
7. Dish out the Ayam Masak Merah and garnish it with some coriander (fresh or dry)
Sweet potato is classified as super food and sweet potato fries has been a hit recently. Many fast food restaurants start to include sweet potato fries into their menu and they are well accepted by the consumer.
I am a big fan of sweet potato. I go for any food with sweet potatoes i.e. sweet potato chips, sweet potato cakes, sweet potato buns, sweet potato cookies, sweet potato ice-shave etc. But one thing I rarely have is, sweet potato fries. If there are options to choose between the potato fries or sweet potato fries (to go with my fried chicken), I will undoubtedly go for potato fries. The reason is simple, because I think, when comes to fries, the potato fries with ketchup are still the best.
Yesterday I was making my favourite baked salmon for lunch and I opted a rare side dish - sweet potato fries. I was using the simple to prepare frozen sweet potato fries. They are super easy to prepare. Check out the instructions at the end of the blog.
The sweet potato fries taste surprisingly good, with natural sweetness well captured. The downside is, these fries are way too soft and easy to break apart. You can hardly enjoy them as normal the fries, where you can hold them using your fingers, and pop stick by stick into your mouth. I am wondering, if the problem will be solved by deep frying them. Or perhaps some coating batter is needed?
Anyway, I pretty enjoyed the sweet potato fries as they paired very well with my baked salmon. A hearty meal for a sunny Saturday afternoon!
Instructions
Sweet potato fries
1. Spread the fries on the baking tray. Baked in the oven for 15-20 min, under 200°c heat.
2. Sprinkle some sea salt on top and serve the fries with your favourite dish.
Baked salmon
1. Marinate salmon fillets with some chili mix, salt and some lemon juice.
2. Place the salmon fillets on the baking tray (skin facing up). Drizzle some oil on top of the fillet.
3. Pop the salmon into the oven and bake for 10-12 min, under 175°c heat.
Avocado, the super food, is packed with great nutrients, for example potassium, vitamin C, K, B5, B6 and E. Avocados are 0 cholesterol and low in saturated fat. According to the NHANES survey, people who eat avocados regularly tend to be healthier - weighed less, have a lower BMI, have less belly fat and have higher levels of “good” HDL cholesterol.
For the mentioned reasons above, I'm into the bandwagon of avocado eating. Unfortunately avocados are not cheap, so I will buy avocados only when they are on sales. I will buy the supply that could last me for a week.
My all time favourite avocado recipe is the creamy avocado tuna spread. These spread are so simple to make and taste super good. You can have the spread with toasts, crackers or even pasta. I usually make a big bowl and store in the freezer. It can last me for 2 days, 4 meals in total. Check out the recipe below.
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
1 canned tuna
1 small shallot (thinly sliced)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds (optional)
Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and give a good mix. Spread the avocado tuna spread on to your favourite breads or crackers. You can either mix the sesame seeds into your spread or you may just sprinkle them on top of your sandwich as garnish before serving. I like the nutty taste and the fragrant of sesame seeds; therefore I am very generous with the amount used for my spread. Super tasty :)
