Caramel Roast Chicken

Caramel Roast Chicken (serve 2)

Ingredients:
* 1 chicken breast meat, cubed
* 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced.
* 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (you can use balsamic vinegar but taste would be milder)
* 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
* 2-3 tbsp soy oil
* 1 tsp scallion, for garnishing

How to:
* Preheat oven to 220 C.

* In a bowl, add in the chicken cubed and the onion. Mix with red wine vinegar & soya sauce. Let it sit in fridge for about 15-20 mins.

* Add in 2-3 tbsp soy oil. Toss until all chicken are well coated then transfer to oven proof baking dish.

* Bake for 15 mins till done (but not too dry). Garnish with scallions.

Voila. H loves it so much. He would dip his bread and ignore me completely. And I'm a happy wife.

Let the holidays begin!

Teochew Braised Duck, Lo Ak

I'm so very pleased with the result, with the exception that the breast meat is not as moist as those sold in hawker centre in Singapore. I also called my dad to let him know I'm cooking his favourite food :)

I would have felt guilty (just a tad!) if I cook this and H couldn't eat it at all. But since he left quite abruptly this morning, I felt no guilty whatsoever. I tuck them all into my tummy faster than you say, omg.

Original recipe is from Rasa Malaysia (my primary source for anything chinese related). I basically halved all measurement, and use only half breast meat. I'm keeping the other one for magret de canard.

Here's the original recipe and here's how I did mine.

Ingredients:
* half duck breast, heavily sprinkled with coarse sea salt
* 1 4cm-long cinnamon stick
* 2 star anises
* 2 cloves
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1 tsp coarse sea salt
* 1/2 tsp crushed black peppercorn
* 1 lemongrass, crushed
* 1 2cm-thick galangal
* 1 cup water, plus more
* 1/4 cup dark soya sauce

How to:
* In a heavy bottomed pot, add in all ingredients (except the duck) and let it boiled.

* Turn to low heat, then slowly lower down the duck breast meat. Add in water if necessary, to make sure the duck is half covered. I didn't have to.

* Every 5-10 mins (when you can take your eyes off whatever you're doing) bask the meat with the sauce. Turn it if necessary.

* Cook for at least 1.5 hours till very, very, tender. Add more water if needed, so it won't dry out.

Enjoy with duck rice, duck egg, bean curd.. sigh.. if only we're in Asia. I didn't wait and tuck them in right after I hung up and took the photo :) Yummm..

Pickling Cabbage

When I was still working as a junior executive of some sort with crappy working hours, my then-colleagues and I often abused lunch hour to go for food excursions. We would travel all over the little petite island, up north, down south, far west and east just to find the best gems. Always in two taxis, or one big car over a heavy downpour. Nothing stopped us back then. We had crappy jobs of being the person always got stuck in middle anyway. It wasn't bad by most standards, but we always had something to complain. And to gossip ;)

So one of the most memorable excursion is to eat Salted Duck Soup (咸菜鸭肉汤, xiancai ya rou tang) somewhere up north (I can barely remember the name of the place now! shucks, am I that senile??). Anyway, last July I heard they have closed down the place and no one knows where it is now or whether it had shut down for good, since the husband and wife duo are old.


Now that I have probably a corn-eating duck originated from France, I can't stop salivating about this soup. Heck care if H won't eat it at all, I can lick the pot dry. Provided my pickled swatow (mustard green vegetable) turns okay.


Let me rephrase it, provided my pickled white cabbage is giving the taste it should. It has the right smell, but cabbage can't be compared with mustard green in terms of texture and thickness. But I'm desperate. That desperate. My parents will laugh till the cows come home if they heard about this.

Original recipe is from Taste Hong Kong, here, I use the exact measurement, except that my cabbage is 150gr.

We'll see how it goes in this thursday. Time to pray for magical things in this kitchen. Yahoo!

n.b. If you are craving for a nice salted duck soup, and if you happen to be in Singapore, go down to Hong Lim hawker centre, 2nd floor. By the middle lane, 3rd vendor from right, there's one hawker selling roasted duck meat and make one mean salted duck soup. Next to vendor selling chinese pancakes, curry puffs & chinese fried desserts. When you turn your head to right and see the longest queue for bakchor mee, you are at the right spot. I believe they are the only one selling salted duck soup. Even my dad agreed with the flavors. And that's rare.

n.b.2. I know it's not a direction worthy of michelin. But hey, that's how I remember things.

Day 16: Pumpkin Fried Rice & Ice Cream Topping

One thing I miss the most from Singapore is my Yam rice with sliced-fish soup. I easily ate this twice a week for a late dinner post yoga. I couldn't find yam here, but this pumpkin rice is a good substitute :)

Pumpkin Fried Rice (2 pax)

Ingredients:
* 1/2 C pumpkin, diced 1x1 cm size.
* 1 shallot, thinly sliced
* 1 garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 tsp oyster sauce
* 1/2 tsp light brown sugar. You can use any sugar you have.
* 2 ebi (dried shrimp), soaked & chopped
* 2 dried mushroom, soaked & sliced
* 1.5 C of cooked rice (I use brown rice)
* chopped green onions & parsley for garnish

How to:
* Heat up some oil and fry the shallot & garlic till brown. Set aside.

* Using the same pan, pan-fry the diced pumpkin. Sprinkle some sugar (to caramelize it) and cook till soft.

* Once the pumpkin is soft, add in the cooked rice, mushroom, ebi and stir. Add in the oyster sauce and mix well. Taste and season with salt & pepper. Turn the fire off.

* Add the green onions, fried shallots & garlic and mix well, then plate up. Garnish with parsley right before serving.

I serve it with pan fry Cod fish and end our very satisfying lunch with vanilla ice cream with home made topping. Thanks Jamie for the great idea!!

2 tbsp coffee beans + 1 tbsp chocolate + 2 tbsp hazelnut grind in food processor

"Aren't you glad to be back at home?"
"Yes!!!!! I miss my wife's cooking... and now I'm going to nap"

H & his wonderbra.
"I'm Tom Cruise in Top Gun"

Day 15: Pork ribs & bean curd soup, Ginger-Garlic Fried Rice

At home, my mum often cooks bean curd soup with pork ribs, occasionally with kidney beans. I wouldn't say this dish falls in my favorite food but strangely, I never recall not finishing the whole pot of bean curd myself. So it was a very nice surprise to found the bean curd stick here.

Recipe is from here. I don't have red dates, so I added carrots instead.
Hmm.. not as 'sweet' as my mom's, something is missing.. maybe the kidney bean, but heh I polished that one off easily, while H ate the pork ribs with fork and knife (!!).

"I like this arrangement. I eat the ribs and you eat the beancurd.."

To accompany, I made ginger & garlic fried rice. I hardly ever crave for nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), but I would crave for this. Recipe initially seen at NYtimes, but well, I made my own version. Recipe is below. And H's unwarranted hatred towards the smelly ginger is cured.

Have a good week ahead! Corinne Bailey Rae is on tv right now :)


Ginger Garlic Fried Rice a la moi (2 pax)
- Cooked rice. I always use brown rice and cook it on the same day.
- 1 tbsp mince garlic
- 1 tbsp mince ginger
- a small bowl of leek
- 1 egg
- 2 red chillies, seeds removed and sliced
- S + P
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- vegetable/ soya oil to fry

How to:
* In your wok, fry the mince ginger first. Wait 30 seconds before adding the mince garlic. Fry till brown, drain them on paper towel and set aside.

* Add leeks & chillies into the wok. Cover and let the leeks soften. Season with salt & pepper. About 2-3 mins, depending quantity.

* Lower the heat. Add the cook rice, mix.

* Add the egg. Do not mix immediately, but instead let the egg fry a little before you stir everything together.

* Add back the fried ginger & garlic. Toss & mix well. Turn the heat off. Taste & add salt & pepper as desired.

* Add sesame oil, mix well and serve immediately.

Day 13: Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs

I'm dry and my fridge is empty. So with a heavy heart I unloaded my precious ribs from my freezer. 

Original recipe is from here.
I opted for the all dark soy sauce recipe, instead of mixing some with light soy sauce. I didn't have any rock sugar, so I switched it with brown sugar, same quantity.

Verdict: "I was so shock to see the colour. Yesterday we ate your hair (squid ink pasta) and today we ate burnt meat? But it was really, really good. Our pork needs more meat & more fats, but no doubt it was very very good, mon amour."

Phew. The recipe is so simple and requires very little ingredients, besides my precious ribs and now almost finish Chinese shiaoxing wine.

For vegetable, I just stir fry some remnants of aubergine, courgette and red pepper. I told you I have nothing.

Day 12: Salt & Pepper Squid

This is our lunch today. 

I cooked Salt & Pepper Squid, the way a decent (Chinese) seafood restaurant would do. I prepared Squid Ink Pasta to accompany (me and my sense of humour).  For dessert I made (American) Coconut Macaroon. Again, mixing cuisines. But they work. H didn't complain, they lived up to their promises. But I don't want to talk about what I cook today. I want to talk about biology.

To be exact, I want to talk about the food chain. About unfortunate turn of events. About death. 

It appears that the lula were enjoying their lunch when being caught alive by the Angolan fishermen, 

barely alive when put into freezer by my friend E, 

in the brink of death when transported from E's house to my house, 

frozen to eternity for few more days inside my freezer

before at last (!!) going into their final resting place. 

Shock turns into nervous laughter into logic. My left brain kicked in. Even squids can have a freak accident.

For a long time I wonder if I should keep the fish. They inspired me to cook Sambal Goreng Teri (Spicy fried anchovies). 
I realize that there will be many outside my front gate who will appreciate this unexpected gift, were they in my shoes
But sorry.. I couldn't eat you. 
Not without thinking of where you've been.. 
Or what about to become of you.


Yucks! It's a good thing I have my gloves on. Gloves are very important, people!!! I couldn't emphasize more.

P/s: Recipe for salt & pepper squid is from here. Recipe of the chocolate coconut macaron is from here. Unlike their french sister, this one is easy to make. 

Day 10: Ma po duo fu

Let's just say I'm extremely pleased with my Mapo tofu, while H ate no more than 1 cube. Said a long prayer before and quickly washed down with coke afterwards. Just short of gargling with mouthwash.

Recipe is from here.

Day 8: Minced Pork Dumplings

It is rare to find minced pork so I always make my dumplings with minced beef. But something about the taste is not quite right. Using beef, it's a little bit too dense and meaty. Maybe it's just up in my head. So when I found minced pork last weekend, without any va va voom, I took the entire 1kg of it.

Armed with Andrea Nguyen's tutorial in creating pleated crescent, I got busy. I dreamt of making extra to share with others. Show off.

Here's the tutorial.

 And here's my pleated crescent.

And here's another shape when I gave up trying and googled Asian American Potstickers.

Verdict: The end product looks insulting. My dream was dashed, no proud smiles of 'look what I did today', no showing off to the neighbours. H was like uh huh, chomp chomp, uh huh, wait, where's my dragon chopstick? chomp chomp, is it all for me? chomp chomp.


Bof, either the pork was too fatty or the pork was too fatty, it's too greasy for my taste. Aiyah, back to beef. Or mayhaps, mix of beef and pork next time.

Day 6: Beef Teriyaki with Roasted Bro-Cauli Indian Style

Opening your freezer to found yourself with a really good entrecôte you forgot you have is like opening a wardrobe & found  a never-worn-before dress you bought last season. Yeap, it's that good. Never mind that the beef is more than a few weeks old. H will call me names of course, but he doesn't know. So it won't hurt. Armed with some colourful bell peppers, I decided to make Beef Teriyaki a la Hoka Hoka Bento (a Japanese food chain in Jakarta). The recipe was passed down to me from my friend K, but as often the problem with me, I incorporate some, ignore the rest and call it my own. I like to think I trust my tastebud more than any recipe. Silly, especially when you're this new to cooking. 

For the veggie, I decided to roast a mixture of brocolli and cauliflower sprinkled with cumin seed, garlic, curry powder mixture, olive oil and salt. In this tiny household, I often cook Indian dishes. I like it for the richness of flavour. The fact they use yogurt instead of coconut milk helps my waist. H likes it because the spiciness doesn't numb his tongue and lips. 

One thing about H is that he eats Asian food like an Angmoh new to the Far East. Fresh. Off. The. Boat. Instead of mixing various dishes on his plate, he approaches the dishes in succession, in systematic order. Meaning, he'll first eat the vegetable alone like how one eats salad, then meat and rice. Never quite mixing the dishes, not even in his mouth. He'll push his food around so that they won't touch and "contaminate" each other. No amount of nagging can educate him, worst he'll say "Sssshhhhh, you're controlling me." Initially I thought his odd habit was cute. Maybe he secretly has autism? I have a superhero syndrome, if you can't tell. But now??? *roll eyes* 

Anyway, this allows me to mix cuisines, hence the odd combo of Chinese/Japanese and Indian.

Here's a look of his lunch today. 

Verdict: the teriyaki is very good, (the prime cut helps a lot) and roasting broccoli is not very smart, no matter how many recipes out there telling you to roast and roast and roast (sans washing even!). Roasted broccoli smells awful and tastes afwul. And dessert? Despite the disastrous kue sus, nothing that nutella can't cure.  

Day 5: Hua Juan or Steam Bun with scallions

Sunday is usually my most productive day. I will wake up early and bang the kitchen as often as my mood strikes. Since I woke up especially early today, I decided to make Hua Juan for breakfast. It is basically, a fancier version of bao or mantou.

It's been awhile since I last ate steam bun. The tastiest I've ever tried was in Shanghai few years ago when I was scouring the local neighbourhood. Nothing fancy but to pair steam bun with a red cold nose and frozen hands is quite out of this world.

Recipe is from here.
No modifications are made, recipe was followed to the exact measurement (trust me, this is an anomaly).

voila!

Verdict:
"Not enough salt"
"What do you mean not enough salt?? It's not a salty bread. It's meant to be slightly sweet!!" 
"Well, I don't like.."
" Fine. I will put chorizo inside."
" Ok, do one now. I test your concept.. "

And that's how I have a chorizo steamed bun.

" Hmm.."
" What now?"
" How much chorizo did you put?"
" Well, I diced them and put them inside.."
"Well, not enough. Too much bread for me"
" OK I SHALL PUT OUT THE CHORIZO SO YOU CAN EAT IT LIKE A HOTDOG!!"
" Hmm.. I like."

Day 4: Lo Mai Kai

Lo Mai Kai or sticky rice wrapped on a lotus leaf is a classic Cantonese dish, our third leg whenever we go dimsum. When one craves for dimsum, one only has to dangle Lo Mai Kai and bijiu (preferably Tiger) in front of H. He loves it on a first try. We've tried many all over Asia, including in its birth place. But nothing ever come close. Well, you can never get over your first love, can you?

One thing that's often missing from all other Lo Mai Kai is an egg yolk. Whenever eating Lo Mai Kai, H would carefully unfold the lotus leaf, and systematically dig for this golden nugget and cry foul if he doesn't find one. For H, if it doesn't come with the yolk, "it's not a real Lo Mai Kai" he said. So on this maiden attempt, I wanted to catch his dream Lo Mai Kai.

Recipe is from here and here.
I married the two, because they are essentially one and the same with slight variations. I added ebi (dried shrimp), left out lap cheong (chinese sausage), sans chinese 5-spice (I really need to find this!). Of course, an egg (half per portion).

Now, anyone who has ever attempted to make deviled eggs will understand my sweat & tears. I've tried many ways of peeling egg: cover it with cold water, peeling under tap water, tap and roll method (I even watched Andrea Nguyen's tutorial), but I never, ever, succeeded in peeling a perfect egg that's as smooth as baby's bottom. It's my itch that refuses to go. How now? What if Lenotre's pre-requisite is a baby's bottom egg??

Anyway, here we go..

Verdict: "Shhhhh, be quiet and let me eat", said H. For me, it was really good. It was a very decent Lo Mai Kai. The sweetness and saltiness are there, the chewiness from the hioko, the pungentness of the ebi, everything is present. Hooo rahh.

However, the chicken has to be cubed smaller, a tinge more dark soya sauce (colour has to be two shades darker), and of course, egg has to be basked with chicken marinade (mine is still white despite the good rubbing of soya sauce)!!

Can I now whisk out my wooden trolley? "Lo Mai Kai, Char Siew Bao, Har Gao, Xiu Mai,.. Shui yao mai?"