Fried rice paradise using the rice cooker :)

So I've cooked a lot of extra rice to be frying rice for dinner tonight. And only half of that was going to fit into my happycall pan. But then, there's always the rice cooker. 

And after tonight's attempt at using the rice cooker, I have decided that I would forever be frying rice in the rice cooker. Until further notice. 

Ingredients

1 tbsp of oil + 1 tbsp of sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped 

Half a yellow onion, diced

Overnight rice (Filled a 1.5L ice cream tub) 

1 cube of Knorr chicken stock dissolved in about 500ml of water

Five slices of Luncheon meat, diced

Dry fried white bait, 80g to 100g

1 tube of Egg tofu, diced

1 egg, beaten

Dash of pepper

Method

Set the rice cooker to 'Cook' function and once hot, add the oil into the pot.

Fry the garlic and onion till fragrant before adding in the luncheon meat, white bait and egg tofu. 

Add in the rice, breaking it up as you add it in.

Pour in the stock and a dash of pepper. Stir the rice till everything is mixed thoroughly. (Be gentle, you don't want to break up all your luncheon meat and egg tofu further)

Close the rice cooker and let it cook till it pops up to the 'Warm' function.

Add in the beaten egg and give it another stir to make sure everything's well mixed. (Use more eggs if you'd like. Daddy would've loved loads of eggs.) Wait for a bit till you get to switch it to 'Cook' function again and once it pops up to 'Warm', turn off the switch and you're all good to go :)

And there you have it. Fried rice paradise from the rice cooker, no less! 

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Sharksfin melon pork rib soup | 鱼翅瓜排骨炖汤

Ingredients

1 sharksfin melon, 1.1kg before removing skin and seeds, chopped into large pieces

2 corn cobs, chopped into thirds each

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

1 handful of wolfberries

6 red dates

600g pork ribs, blanched

5 small sized dried cuttlefish

1 tablespoon of salt, to taste

3L of water

Method

I bought half a sharksfin melon. Cut the half into four slices (I find that it's easier to remove the rind this way). Use a spoon to remove the seeds before cutting up the melon into big chunks. 

Boil a pot of water and when it comes to a boil, blanch the pork ribs then drain the pork ribs.

Add 3L of water into a soup pot, put in the pork ribs, melon, carrot, dried cuttlefish, handful of wolfberries and red dates. 

Bring this to a fierce boil. Then add one tablespoon of salt (or to taste). 

Let it simmer till it starts to bubble again then turn off the flame. 

Bring it to a fierce boil again before serving. (I cooked this at mid day so that there's always time for a second boil before dinner comes around :))

I'll try it again with a whole chicken the next time round just to see if there's a difference. :)

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Kaeng Kiaw Wan Gai x Green Curry Chicken

Ingredients:
1 packet of Lobo Green Curry Paste

300ml Kara Coconut Cream

400ml of water

1 teaspoon of fish sauce

2 carrots, peeled and cubed

2 round brinjals, cubed

1 lemongrass, pounded and chopped

1 teaspoon cooking oil

300g chicken parts

Kaffir lime leaves

Thai Basil

There are many Thai curry pastes out there in the market but the Lobo brand is very frequently purchased by Singaporeans on travels to Bangkok. And of course I contributed to the trend. I got a ten pack of this paste and gave most of it away save for this last packet. 

In the light of the recent bombing incidents and ongoing bomb threats, I decided to give this dish a go as a timely reminder to #prayforBKK.

Method:

Heat up the pan and add cooking oil. Once heated, fry the lemongrass (which I figured would be better in the whole stalk for the next attempt since all the lemongrass pieces were getting caught in every mouthful of curry). Add the curry paste and stir fry it for a little before adding in the coconut cream (It recommends for coconut milk actually but I used cream because that's what I bought without checking, oops). Depending on the consistency of the gravy that you like, I added 400ml of water (also to cut down on the spice factor a little, this paste can get pretty spicy for people who can't take heat well). Add in carrots to bring to a boil before adding in the chicken parts and lastly the brinjal. Add 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and thai basil. Bring it to a boil before leaving it to simmer on low heat to ensure all the vegetables and meat have been cooked through. :)

Keep praying for Bkk even as you enjoy this simple Thai curry.

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Capturing sunsets :)

Serves 5

400g of fish fillet, sliced
2 tablespoons of shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon of sesame oil + 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to finish
30g of old ginger, chopped into matchsticks
0.5 teaspoon of pepper
0.5 teaspoon of salt
0.5 teaspoon of soya sauce
8 medium sized scallops, soaked and shredded
3 cups of rice, washed
1 salted egg, hardboiled
1.5 cubes of Knorr chicken seasoning (No MSG Added)
1 stalk of spring onion

Prepare the fish by marinating the sliced fish fillet with shaoxing wine, sesame oil, ginger, pepper, salt and soya sauce. Use your hands to really work the seasoning into the fish slices but be careful not to break the fish meat with too much force. Set it aside.

Boil the rice, scallops and add the chicken seasoning cubes when the porridge is almost cooked. Then top up with more water and keep stirring till the consistency of choice is achieved. I estimate myself to have used about 2.5 L of water in total.

Add the fish slices and simmer on low heat till fish slices are cooked thoroughly. Bring the porridge to a boil and add in one tablespoon of sesame oil to finish.

Serve topped with spring onion, more old ginger, pepper and with salted eggs on the side :)

Lao San Kway Chap @ Ang Mo Kio

So I asked my hand model to pick something she liked. And she went for gold! The braised meats here at Lao San are tender and the layer of fat simply melts away in one's mouth. Getting my iron fix here with the lean meat, liver and salted vegetable soup here. A life saver during my closed jaw reduction. After my accident, I had my mouth wired shut and dad bought this soup for me to drink every other day to make sure I kept my iron levels up. 

smile emotico

 I don't know about the best kway chap around in SG but this one's my family's pick!

Blk 232, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

Lao San Kway Chap 

Tuesdays to Sundays 

6am till sold out :)

They say a person just needs three things to be truly happy in this world

Ingredients: (For 5 servings)

15 small black flower mushrooms, reserve mushroom water

150g spare ribs

100g pork ribs

2 small saito fishcakes

10 pork & mushroom balls

1 carrot peeled and sliced

5 leaves of lettuce chopped

200g of rice vermicelli presoaked

500g of prawns, deshelled and deveined, marinate with a dash of soy sauce, shaoxing wine, pepper, a dash of sesame oil. reserve head and shells.

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Oyster sauce 2 large tablespoons

0.5 teaspoon of salt to taste

1 cube of Knorr chicken stock (no MSG)

500ml of pork rib stock

2L of water

Parsley, chopped red chillies

Method:

Blanch spare ribs and pork ribs and set aside.

Once pan is heated, add sesame and vegetable oil. Fry minced garlic till fragrant and add prawn shells and head. Fry and lightly press the head while frying :) 

Add 2L of water, 500 ml of pork rib stock, flower mushrooms and reserve mushroom water. Once it comes to a boil, add sliced carrots. Let the soup continue boiling, add 1 chicken stock cube, oyster sauce and salt to taste.

Let the soup continue to simmer over low heat. Add in the pork ribs and spare ribs, fishcake and prawns.

Once ready for dinner, let soup come to a boil and add in the presoaked vermicelli to cook in the soup. Divide the vermicelli into 5 portions and the sliced lettuce before arranging ingredients and adding soup. Finish with a dash of white pepper to taste. 

Top with parsley and serve with cut red chilli padi :)

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Sweet and sour fish :)

Ingredients:

1 Fresh gold band snapper - 1kg, descaled, degutted, sliced into half with head and tail removed. $9

2 tomatoes, sliced into eighths each $0.60

1 yellow onion, sliced into eighths $0.20

A knob of old ginger, sliced $0.20

5 tablespoons of tomato ketchup $0.20

1 teaspoon of Kikkoman soya sauce $0.20

2 teaspoons of corn flour $0.10

100 + 10 ml of corn oil $0.40

A dash of pepper + a pinch of salt $0.20

20 ml of water

Method:

A pinch of salt and a dash of pepper sprinkled on both sides of the fish.

2 teaspoons of corn flour sprinkled on skin side of fish and patted in lightly.

Heat 100ml of corn oil (reserve just one tablespoon) and place 5 slices of ginger into the oil when heated. 

Place fish skin side down to fry on high heat for a couple of minutes. 

Turn the fish over to fry on high heat till thoroughly cooked. 

Leave the fish aside to drain the oil on some kitchen towel.

Pour away the oil and clean the pan with kitchen towel before adding the 10ml of corn oil. 

Once heated, add the ginger (sliced into matchsticks), onion and fry till fragrant.

Add the 5 tablespoons of tomato ketchup (or more if more gravy is favoured) and soya sauce.

Add water when the mixture bubbles till consistency of choice.

Add the tomatoes to fry for a couple of minutes till well mixed with the sauce.

Plate the fish and spoon the sweet and sour sauce over the fish. :)

Optional : Diced pineapple slices for the sauce.

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

The Nation's Golden Jubilee Celebrations @ Padang Grandstand in photos

Comfort food looks like a dish of pork, potatoes and baked beans :)

 

1 large yellow onion, sliced

 2 garlic cloves, minced

4 small China potatoes, diced and parboiled

1 can baked beans

300g hind/ loin meat, sliced

 a quarter tsp salt

 1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp light soya sauce for marinate, 1 tsp for sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

 half a teaspoon of pepper

 2 tbsp of cooking oil, 0.5 tbsp of sesame oil

1. Slice the pork and marinate with 1 tsp light soya sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, pepper and sesame oil.

2. Dice the potatoes and parboil for 5 minutes on high heat. Drain water and set aside.

3. Use 2 tbsp of cooking oil and a dash of sesame oil to fry minced garlic till fragrant.

4. Add in parboiled potatoes to pan fry with the garlic.

5. Then add in the sliced onion and marinated pork to fry till the onion turns translucent.

6. Add in the can of baked beans and 1 tbsp of tomato ketchup. (Add in a pinch of sugar if the tomato ketchup/ brand of baked beans is a tad too sour), add in 1 tsp of light soya sauce and bring to a boil.

7. Serve hot with rice.