Chick pea curry

Some days I love a simple chick pea curry to go with rice. I made this for an Economy Beehoon theme potluck dinner yesterday together with fried luncheon meat. I know, Economy Beehoon stalls at home don't normally have chick pea curries but I admit, I was craving for it so chick pea curry it was! I think the adults like it. Do take note if you're using dried chick peas, it needs to be soaked overnight. Otherwise, there are canned options too.

Summary of recipe:

1. Soak 1 cup of dried chick peas overnight. It will expand to a little bit more than 2 cups.
2. Steam pre-soaked chick peas for at least 30 minutes.
3. Sauté, continue with each addition:
• Heat 1 Tbsp of oil, saute 5 chopped midsize red onions until golden brown.
• Add 3 cloves of garlic (chopped) , 1 inch of ginger (grated)
• Add 1.5 tsp of ground fennel and 1 tsp ground turmeric
• Add 1 large tomato (diced), sauté until mushy
4. Cool and blend to a paste. Add some water to blender as necessary.
5. Return to the same pan to simmer. 
6. Add the following and stir to continue simmering:
• steamed chick peas
• 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp curry powder (or 1.5 tsp of either one if you don't have the other; option to use less to make is less spicy)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp of dried parsley or 1 small bunch of fresh coriander (again, interchangeable)
• half cup water, or adjust according to desired thickness and taste

Recipe adapted from: http://www.cookingandme.com/2013/03/chana-masala-recipe-chole-masala-recipe.html

Carrot pulp muffin

After the last batch of mix fruit pulp muffins turned out tasting a little funny, I decided to stick to just one item pulp for making muffins. Today I started juicing with carrots and managed to get 1.5 cups of carrot pulp. Beautiful orange fluffy pulp!

Summary of recipe:

Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius.

1. In a mixing bowl, beat

    - 2 eggs

    - a little over 1/2 cup oil (exact is 5/8 of a cup)

    - 1 cup sugar

    - 1 tsp vanilla

2. Mix in

    - 1 cup flour

    - 1 tsp baking powder

    - 1 tsp baking soda

    - 1/4 tsp salt

    - 1 tsp ground cinnamon 

3. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of carrot pulp and 1/4 cup carrot juice.

4. Pour batter into new, clean plastic bag, snip off the corner and pipe into lined muffin tin. Top with walnut pieces or almond flakes. Bake for 30 mins. Makes 12.

Recipe source: http://emilyframe.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/carrot-pulp-cake.html

Teriyaki Salmon

It's Friday again! This has been a busy week and I'm glad I had the chance of having vegetable+fruit juice three times (1litre each time). Surprisingly, it tastes really good and I have much more clarity than usual.

In the effort of eating healthy, we eat fish once or twice a week and usually Friday is one of it. Here's a teriyaki salmon recipe I always use.

Summary of recipe:

Prep:

1. Prepare 350-400gm of salmon, cut into 2-3 serving portions. Pat dry.

2. Season salmon with sea salt and pepper for a few minutes.

3. Coat salmon with flour - thinly is ok.

4. In a bowl, mix 1 Tbsp Sake/rice wine, 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp soy sauce.

Sear:

5. In a pan, using medium heat, swirl in 1/2 Tbsp oil.

6. Sear salmon (skin down) on the pan for 3 minutes each side. The flour coating keeps the salmon's natural flavor within.

7. Swirl in 1Tbsp of butter.

8. When both sides of salmon are medium brown, add 1Tbsp of Sake or rice wine, place a lid over the pan and let it steam for 3 minutes.

9. Remove salmon from pan.

Sauce: 

10. Add prepared sauce mixture into hot pan.

11. Return salmon into the pan and as sauce thickens, spoon sauce onto the fish.

12. Turn off heat when sauce is thick. Plate and serve warm.

Recipe source: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/teriyaki-salmon-recipe/

Fruit pulp muffin

Recently, we bought a juicer and we've been juicing all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The aim is to stay healthier and at the same time avoid preservatives in store-bought juices. With juicing comes pulps. We've been throwing away the pulps previously; until this week, I could not bear to waste it any more I decided to do something with it. Here goes...

Summary of recipe:

Preheat oven to 200 degree Celcius.
1. Measure the following dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar

2. In a separate bowl/cup, mix and stir together the liquids:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

3. Mix the liquids + 1 cup of fruit pulp into the dry ingredients with a spatula. 

4. Scoop batter into lined muffin pans. Bake for 25 mins or until stick comes out clean.

Recipe source: http://www.minimomist.com/2011/04/orange-juice-and-muffins/

鮮竹卷 Beancurd rolls

This is a common offer in dimsum or yumcha restaurants. I always like to order this one - anything that's wrapped in bean curd skin is usually good.  I've made them a little bigger than the usual size as my thoughts are to make it functional and quick! 

Summary of recipe:

1. Mix to marinate the following ingredients and set it aside:

• 250gm minced pork or chicken
• 125gm shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped
• 4 water chestnuts, chopped
• 2cm piece of ginger, grated
• 1 1/2 Tbsp light soy
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• dash of rice wine
• 1 egg yolk

2. Prepare the sauce and set it aside:

• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• dash of rice wine + drops of vodka if you like
• dash of pepper
  
  And separately, 1/2 tsp chopped garlic + 1/2 tsp minced ginger.

3. Prepare bean curd skin to wrap the mince, seal packet with egg white. 

4. Pan fry the rolls until all sides are brown. No need to ensure they're cooked through at this stage. Blot the rolls of excess oil, place in a deeper wide dish. 

5. Using the earlier pan, drain excess oil, pan fry 1/2 tsp chopped garlic and 1/2 tsp minced ginger. Add in the sauce and let it boil.

6. Pour sauce into the bowl with the rolls, place bowl into a steamer and steam for 8 minutes.

Recipe source: http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/fu-jok-guen-beancurd-skin-rolls-yum-cha.html

Steak

1. Marinate steak with soy sauce, sesame oil and wine.

2. Sear steak on cast iron pan, both sides.

3. Put into oven (175 deg Celcius) for 4-8 mins depending on desired doneness.

入口即化杏仁餅 Melt-in-the-mouth Almond cookies

Oh my craving for simple cookies! This almond cookie is easy to make and it melts in the mouth, especially when it's warm.

Summary of recipe:

Preheat oven to 180 deg Celcius.

1. Measure the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:

- 120gm ground almond

- 180gm plain flour

- 120gm sugar

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

2. Use a hand or stand mixer, mix the above ingredients first, then drizzle in 150ml (or less) vegetable oil.

3. Use a spatula to 'group' the dough together so it becomes easy to shape into balls.

4. Use a 1tsp-measuring spoon to scoop out the dough and make it into a ball shape. Place on parchment paper on a tray.

5. Bake for 15mins.

Recipe source: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/almond-cookies/

Garlic soy meatballs

Menu planning may sound boring to some but I've found it to be an opportunity to get creative with ingredients on hand. I bought a variety of meats on Saturday and decided to use the portion of minced pork on meatballs. I remember the deep fried meatballs grandmother always served at her dinner parties and mom would also make them as treats once in a while.

Here's a recipe that's first pan fried, then simmered with garlicky soy sauce for glaze. I made it into a fusion meal on salad greens.

Summary of recipe:

1. Prepare the mince:

Mix the below ingredients in a bowl:

• 200gm minced pork or chicken
• 50gm chopped shrimps
• 1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 1 spring onion (white parts only), minced
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp light soy
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• dash of white pepper
• dash of Chinese cooking wine
• 1/2 an egg, lightly beaten*
• about 2 or 3 Tbsp corn flour*

2. Prepare the sauce:

Mix the below in a bowl:

• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1 1/2 Tbsp light soy
• 1 Tbsp dark soy
• 3 Tbsp sugar or honey
• dash of sesame oil

Separately:

- 1 garlic, chopped

Cook:

1. Shape the mince into meatballs or patties**.
2. Pan fry the meatballs or patties with just enough oil for meat to not stick on pan. Remove from pan when golden on both sides.
3. With remaining oil in pan, sauté chopped garlic for a minute.
4. Add the sauce and cook for another minute.
5. Return the meatballs or patties to the pan and simmer until sauce is reduced; turn meatballs or patties to glaze.
   
   Optional:
6. Arrange a bed of salad greens and place the meatballs or patties on top.
7. Garnish with toasted almond flakes.

*I used 1 egg and 4 Tbsp of corn flour.

**I spooned the mince mix directly into the pan.

Adapted from recipe source: http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/sticky-soy-and-garlic-meatballs.html

Chawanmushi

C always likes to order chawanmushi when dining at Japanese restaurants. So I thought, what's so difficult to make steam eggs? After a few failed attempts earlier (read: rough surface on egg), I was very happy to have found a chawanmushi recipe written by a Japanese. I tell ya, the art of Japanese cooking is ever so delicate. The trick to smooth steamed egg is to cover the bowl and steam in very low simmer; and of course, precise preparations in ingredients.

Summary of recipe:

Prepare ingredients:

1. Soak 2 dried Shitake mushrooms. Slice into thin strips or quarters.
2. Marinate 4 shrimps (deveined and shelled) with some sake or rice wine for 10 minutes.
3. Marinate 1 chicken tender (cut into strips) with some sake or rice wine for 10 minutes.
4. Prepare any other ingredients you'd like to include in the chawanmushi, e.g., surimi, Japanese fish cake, gingko nuts, shimeji mushrooms, etc.
5. Divide everything into 2 chawanmushi cups or small bowls*.

Meanwhile, boil some water in a large pot. The water should reach half the height of your chawanmushi cups. No wire rack is needed for inside the pot. Once the water is rolling boiled, turn the heat to the lowest so it's just a very slow simmer. 

Prepare egg liquid:

1. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl. 
2. Add 1 cup of chicken or dashi stock.
3. Season with 1 tsp mirin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp soy sauce.
4. Strain this mixture into another bowl.
5. Pour egg liquid slowly into the prepared chawanmushi cups and ensure there are no bubbles.
6. Cover the chawanmushi cups with its cover or use alluminium foils.
7. Gently place the chawanmushi cups into the pot of hot water. Place pot cover and steam for 25 minutes**.

*I used two tumbler wine glasses and one of it cracked! So I wouldn't recommend using them. This recipe may yield 2 or 3 cups depending on the size.

** If you're not using any shrimp or chicken, you'd need to steam it for only 15-20 minutes.

It was really smooth and tasted just like the ones in good Japanese restaurants! Didn't take a picture (!) but it is close to the one shown at recipe source except I didn't put any of the roe or sea urchin toppings. 

Picture update - 3 perfect 1 fail:

Recipe source: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/chawanmushi-with-shrimp/

Hot & sour soup

T'was another cold winter night. What better than to have something hot, sour, spicy and soupy?

I first tasted this hot and sour soup when I was studying in the US. This and egg drop soup were the two standard soup starters in most Chinese restaurants. At first taste, I thought it was the weirdest soup concoction ever - who invented it anyway? Over time, I begin to appreciate the wonders this soup makes you feel, especially on cold winter nights.

Summary of recipe:

Prepare in separate bowls:

1. Soak and cut into strips:
   1-2 pieces of woodear, 2 dried Chinese/Shitake mushrooms, 6-8 strips of dried golden lily.
   Optional: pork strips, crab meat, bamboo shoots.
2. Mix 1.5 Tbsp white vinegar + 1 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar + 2 Tbsp light soy + 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp sugar + 1 tsp (or more) Korean chili flakes* + 1 tsp chili oil
3. Mix 1 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water.

Cook:

1. Sautè items in #1 bowl with a swirl of oil for 3 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups chicken broth and let it boil.
3. Add 1 soft tofu (pre-cut into bite size).
4. Add in #2 and #3 mixtures and stir intermittently until broth thickens.
5. Slowly drip in 1 egg (lightly beaten) while stirring the pot.
6. Season with dashes of pepper, depending on how much heat you like. 
7. Garnish with sliced spring onions (not shown in picture).

*Can be substituted with any other chili flakes or powder. 

Ginger wine chicken 黄酒薑雞

I've recently started menu planning for the entire week and found that it's a really good way to ensure produce and meats don't go to waste. In a way, this helps save money too as I optimize my cooking ingredients to make the best meals out of them. Yesterday, this effort 'rewarded' me to a nice comfort food just as I was feeling the winter blues.

This chicken dish is fragrant with ginger, rice wine and sesame oil. I think you'd either love it or hate it.

Summary of recipe:

Sautè for a few minutes after each addition:

1. Aromatics - 2 Tbsp sesame oil + sliced ginger (2") + chopped half garlic.
2. Main - Half a free range chicken (chopped into medium size pieces) + wood ear strips
3. Seasoning - 3 Tbsp oyster sauce + large splash of Chinese cooking wine + Shaoxing wine + sprinkle of sugar + dash of light soy + dark soy + pepper. 
4. Water - half to one cup (depending on how much gravy you want)

Let it simmer for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked and gravy is reduced to desired thickness.

Top with spring onions.

Source of recipe: http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.co.nz/2009/10/braised-chicken-with-ginger-and-chinese.html

Mushroom soup

It was steak night yesterday and C requested mushroom soup. Didn't take a picture but here goes.

Summary of recipe:

1. Sautè chopped half a garlic + 1 chopped shallot + 300gm sliced white mushrooms* with swirl of oil until mushroom gets fragrant.
2. Add a cup of chicken broth + 25gm butter. Let it boil for a few minutes.
3. Add 200ml of coconut milk**.
4. Blend half the mushrooms in the soup and add it back to the soup. 
5. Let the soup reduce a bit, ~10 mins, to achieve a thicker soup consistency. 

* Can be substituted with swiss brown, portabello, shitake, or a combo variety.

** Can be substituted with milk. 

Travel the world

I think I'm having a mid-life crisis. I want to just drop everything and go travel with C. Fly to London and travel overland or sea towards Singapore. Hope I win bonus bonds soon!

Countries I've visited - not enough!

Moist lemon butter cup cake

I harvested a few lemons from the garden yesterday and thought - what better than to make some lemon cup cakes? I still can't forget the lemon swiss roll I got from a tiny Asian bakery in Newmarket in Auckland. Someday I shall attempt that one but meanwhile here goes. This recipe yields really moist cup cakes and with the almond slivers, it adds a nice crunch to the zesty flavor - especially when straight out of the oven! The picture does not do it justice - I should really get my good camera out in the future.

Summary of recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celcius.
2. Use a hand mixer, mixing well with each addition:
• cream 125gm butter + 100gm sugar in low speed until light color.
• add 2 eggs, one at a time
• add 125gm flour + 1 tsp baking powder (sifted together), in three additions.  
• add 1Tbsp milk + 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon) + lemon rind from 1 lemon
3. Pipe into lined mini muffin pan, top with a sprinkle of almond slivers and bake for 15 minutes. 

Yields 36 mini muffins.

Note: If you are using a regular muffin pan, bake for 30-40 minutes.



Recipe source: http://hearty-bakes.blogspot.com.au/2010_05_01_archive.html

Nutella swirl cup cake

It is my turn to bring treats at work tomorrow and my stove/oven broke down today! Turned out it was a timer start/stop issue when the land lady's son came to fix it. Earlier, C and I had already taken the oven racks and heating coils apart to clean, thinking it could have been all the goo that had caused a short circuit! So as a backup, I used the mini toaster oven I brought over from Singapore. And given the limited size of the mini oven, I made mini cup cakes!

This is a traditional Chinese egg cake（鸡蛋糕）recipe with a Nutella twist. You could say its a soft kueh bahulu. I love how easy it is to make.

Summary of recipe:

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celcius.

1. Beat 2 eggs + 100 gm sugar + small pinch of salt with handheld mixer, medium speed for two minutes.

2. Sift 90gm flour + 1/2tsp baking powder and fold into #1.

3. Stir in 17gm oil until evenly mixed.

4. Scoop or pipe batter into lined mini muffin pan.

5. Pipe a dollop of Nutella on top center of each muffin. Use the tip of a chopstick to swirl the Nutella into the batter*.

6. Bake for 15 mins.

This recipe makes 24 mini cupcakes (~3cm diameter).

*As you can see from the picture below, I totally forgot to swirl the Nutella into the batter! 

Recipe source: http://rasamalaysia.com/mini-egg-cake-recipe/2/

Quick & Easy Char Siew

C was making Wan Tan Mee for brunch today so I decided to try this new quick and easy Char Siew recipe I saw from the Internet. I didn't realize we ran out of palm sugar half way through cooking so I made substitutes :) 

This recipe results in a pleasant cross between Tauyu Bak and Char Siew.

Summary of recipe:

1. Chop half a garlic and one inch of ginger.

2. In a pot, sauté garlic and ginger with 1 Tbsp of oil.

3. Add 400gm of pork belly to further sauté a bit.

4. Add 250ml water, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 25gm brown sugar, 1 Tbsp dark caramel.

5. Let it simmer in medium high heat until liquid reduces and thickens.

6. Cut into bite size pieces when cooled.

Recipe source: http://herfrozenwings.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/palm-sugar-char-siew.html

Mushroom chicken

Part of a quick meal. 

Summary of recipe:

Preparation:

1. Soak 4 dried Chinese or Shitake mushrooms + 1 piece of dried wood ear. When soften, remove from water and cut into strips when soften.

2. Peel and chop half a garlic.

3. Cut 1 chicken breast into bite-size pieces and marinate with 1 swirl each of soy, shaoxing wine, sesame oil and two dashes of white pepper, ginger powder and corn flour. 

Cook:

4. In a pan, add two swirl of oil.

5. When the oil is very hot, pan fry the chicken pieces till 80% brown. Remove chicken from pan.

6. Discard half or more of the oil.

7. Stir fry the garlic for 30 secs, add in mushroom and wood ear strips. Stir fry until fragrant. 

8. Add in the earlier chicken and stir fry for another minute. 

(Optional) 9. Top with toasted sesame seeds. 

Kimchi

Research has found that kimchi is one of the healthiest food to eat. Indeed! I love a good kimchi that isn't too spicy or too sour. I didn't start to like kimchi until I tasted really good ones at some of the better Korean restaurants. Store-bought kimchis with preservatives just don't do this super food enough justice. Fortunately, kim chi is very easy to make and while the initial stage takes quite a few hours, it can be done easily with a little planning ahead.

Oh, and it goes very well with spicy instant noodles too!

The below recipe uses one head of napa cabbage. Half the recipe if there's only one or two in the household. 

Summary of recipe:

Prepare the cabbage:

1. Chop a napa cabbage one inch wide from top to bottom. Discard the bottommost inch.

2. Dissolve 1/4 cup of salt into 1/2 cup of warm water. 

3. Drizzle salt water over the cabbage. 

4. Toss the cabbage to distribute salt water. Repeat every half an hour or so.

5. After 4 hours, the cabbage will shrink to about half its amount. 

6. Rinse the cabbage thoroughly to get rid of the earlier salt. Repeat 3 times.

7. Add 4 spring onions, sliced diagonally. 

Prepare the marinate:

8. Mix 1/4 cup of Korean chili flakes/powder into 1/4 cup warm water.

9. Prepare 1 Tbsp minced garlic + 1 Tbsp minced ginger + 2 Tbsp fish sauce (optional).

10. Blend half an apple + half a pear + half an onion with 1 cup of water.

Make the kimchi:

11. Toss marinates with vegetables with a thong or use your hands in plastic gloves. Make sure everything is well-mixed.

12. Bottle the kimchis up to one inch below the lid. Close the lids.

13. Leave them out at room temperature for 24 hours before refrigerating. 

The kimchi can be eaten at anytime and will keep for a month or so. The longer it ferments, the more sour it gets.

Recipe source: http://drbenkim.com/how-make-kim-chi.htm

Butter cup cakes

I always love a good butter pound cake. These days I like to make cakes into cupcake size for two reasons - easier to eat and faster bake time. Here's an easy version - no need to separate egg yolks and whites or making/folding egg white meringues. 

Summary of recipe:

1. Preheat oven 165 degree Celsius.

2. Sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.

3. Using a large mixing bowl and hand mixer, cream 230gm softened butter and 1 cup sugar for 5 minutes. 

4. Add 4 eggs - one at a time, mixing for 1 minute after each addition.

5. Add 1 tsp vanilla, mix well.

6. Add in #1 flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mix in low speed. 

7. Pour into lined cupcake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. 

This recipe yields 16 cup cakes. Tastes heavenly straight out of the oven!

Recipe source: http://adobodownunder.blogspot.kr/2011/07/perfection-pound-cake.html

Easy banana muffin

This is one of the easiest banana muffins I've made. No need to use the hand mixer and there's only one pot to wash! 

Summary of recipe for 12 (cupcake size) muffins:

1. In a pot, melt and stir together 125gm butter, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in medium heat. 

2. Remove from heat when melted and mixed.

3. Mash 2 super ripe bananas into pot - mix until just blended.

4. Add 1 egg and mix well.

5. Stir in 1.5 cups self-raising flour*.

6. Stir in 1/4 cup milk.

7. Line cupcake pan and fill each cup 1/3 full, place 3-4 walnut pieces in each cup, then fill until 2/3 full. 

8. Top the batter in each cup with almond slivers. 

9. Bake at 170 degree Celsius for 30 mins or until skewer comes out clean. 

*Self-raising flour substitute:

- 1.5 cups of plain flour + 2 tsp of baking powder

Alternatively, you could bake this is a round or long pan for 40 minutes. Remember to line the pan with parchment or grease proof paper. 

Recipe source: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/easy-banana-cake-L1581.html

燴饭 (Brocolli chicken in silky egg on rice)

This is quite a versatile dish and can be served with rice, flat noodles, or deep fried vermicelli (my favorite!). If it is served on noodles, it is called 滑蛋河, or Cantonese noodles.

Summary of recipe for two:

1. Marinate 1 chicken breast (sliced) with a swirl each of soy, oyster sauce, shaoxing wine, few dashes of pepper and corn flour.

Optional: marinate 8 shrimps with dash of salt and pepper.

2. In a wok,

- brown the chicken in hot oil and remove from wok when almost cooked

- stirfry half a garlic (chopped) in existing oil in wok

- add half a broccoli (cut to bite size)

- season with a swirl each of oyster sauce, soy, shaoxing wine

- add 2 cups of chicken stock

- add shrimps and/or sliced fish cake (optional)

- add browned chicken

- add corn flour mixture (mix half tsp corn flour with 1 Tbsp of water) to thicken

- beat 2 eggs and slowly swirl into the wok, stirring it slowly.

3. Serve on jasmine rice with chopped chili in soy on the side.

Healthy & quick chicken rice

Another favorite hawker food of ours is the chicken rice. I usually fix this as a quick but balanced meal.

Summary of recipe for two:

1. Boil 1.3l of water in a pot.

2. Exfoliate 450gm of free range chicken (one drumstick and one breast; skin on, bone in) with salt - on the skin only.

3. Prepare 1 carrot (cut into bite chunks), 5 spring onions (use only the white part) and one inch of ginger (sliced). 

4. Rinse chicken from salt and together with the carrot, spring onions and ginger, place into boiling pot and cook for 25-30 mins. Skim off impurities. Chicken temperature should be 77°C (or 170°F) when cooked. 

5. Take chicken out of the broth, throw away the spring onions and ginger. Slice chicken when it's slightly cooled. Garnish with chopped parsley and soy sauce.

6. Add cabbage and later optional 1 tomato (sliced) to make a clear vegetable soup. Salt to season.

7. Garnish soup with chopped spring onions and parsley.

As this is a quick meal, I did not make the special chicken oil rice nor chilli dip. We usually do with jasmine rice and Tabasco sauce!

Walnut raisin bread

I love my bread machine! It's a compact 750gm loaf size one (Sunbeam BM2500) with a single paddle - just the right size for a small loaf to be finished within 2-3 days.

Here's a recipe that I make a couple of times a week. It is a soft milk bread that can be made plain or with nuts or fruits of choice.

Summary of recipe 

- place ingredients in bread machine in the following order, I.e., liquid first unless your bread machine works otherwise:

125ml or half cup water roux*

125ml or half cup fresh milk

1 egg

45gm or 3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 Tbsp sugar

2 1/2 cups high grade flour/bread flour/high protein flour

2 1/2 tsp Edmond's Surebake active yeast mixture

Select French setting (goes for a total of 3hrs 36mins)

When the bread machine beeps to add fruits, add the following optional item(s):

- 3/4 cups walnut; or 1/2 cup walnut + 1/4 cup raisins/cranberries; or 1 Tbsp linseed; or a combination of nuts/fruits/seeds to make up 3/4 cups or no more than 1 cup.

Cool completely before slicing although I know sometimes warm bread is hard to resist!

*Water roux:

Mix 25gm bread flour + 125ml water and cook in medium heat until the mixture reaches 65° Celcius (when mixture starts to thicken and lines appear; the texture should be like yogurt). Remove from heat and let it cool before using.

Prawn beehoon

C requested prawn mee today and since we didn't have mee (yellow Hokkien noodles), I made it with beehoon (vermicelli) instead.

Followed this recipe (http://www.foodcanon.com/2011/06/auntie-rubys-prawn-mee-penang-hae-mee.html). 

It is quite a good recipe and I made a few changes - skipped the chicken stock and rock sugar, added some palm sugar (gula melaka) and used baby bok choy instead of morning glory (kangkung). I also fried the hard tofu (tau kwa), fish cake and prawns. Forgot to prepare some hard-boiled eggs though!

During the prep, I was apprehensive about blending the stock ingredients as I've never blended prawn shells before and it feels funny.. Ha! I asked C if he were ok with that idea. He said yes after a longgg pause haha. Remember to strain your stock prior to using it!

Summary of recipe for two: 

1. Peel 250gm of prawns.

2. Prepare the stock ingredients: In a pan, toast a bunch of dried anchovies and dried shrimps, half a garlic (chopped), 2 lemon grass, an inch of ginger (sliced) with a swirl of oil. Add prawn shells to toast further. Add a cup of water. Blend everything.

3. Prepare the stock: Bring a pot of 1.5litre water to boil and add blended stock ingredients, small piece of belacan and gula melaka. Simmer for 45 mins with the lid on or place in thermal pot for a few hours. Salt to taste.

4. Prepare garnish: Soak the beehoon with tap water until soft. Fry the garnish ingredients if you like. Otherwise, cook them in the stock in this sequence - green vegetables, fish cake, prawn, beehoon, bean sprout. 

5. Plate and serve with eggs, sambal and fried shallots.

How to prepare hard-boiled eggs:

Place eggs into a pot and fill with tap water to cover about 1cm above eggs. Bring it to boil on the stove top. Once it is rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 20-25 mins. Then, drain the hot water and fill your pot with cold water to cool the eggs. This also makes it easier to peel the egg shells. 

Sunset

Taranaki Beach at sunset

Hello

We've been in NZ for almost a year now and it's been fun cooking and baking most meals at home. I thought I'd document the recipes and experiences here as a way to record our adventures. Recipes may not be perfect and I'd love to hear from you of any constructive feedbacks!