Chow Mien

Got this from Veganism is the Future facebook page.

Equipment:
Wok (or large frying pan)

Ingredients:
Rice wine: 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Bell pepper (chopped): 1/2
White onion (chopped): 1/2
Garlic (chopped): 3 cloves
Nappa cabbage (chopped): 1/2
Tofu (sliced into small pieces): 1/4 of a block
Celery (chopped): 2-4 ribs
Black and red pepper (flakes): As desired
Angle hair pasta: 1 package (approx 8 oz)

Directions:
Over high heat, add vegetable oil and vegetables into the wok and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Mix in the soy sauce, garlic, rice wine, and tofu. Cook for approx 2 minutes.
Mix in the pasta and cook for another minute.
Season with desired amount of pepper.

Dinner June 15, 2010

I woke up late today and today's suppose to be sewing day but I skipped and watch tons of movies instead. I snacked while watching which was obviously not a wise thing to do but hey, my second last day of the hols...Yet I know when Hobbit gets home he would probably be starving from work and tutoring and another tutoring after dinner. Yup...that's my husband. Long day everyday. So I decided to put on the wife's apron and cook him a simple yummilicious dinner. It's for two so one dish suffice.

I rampaged through my fridge and found a pack of sayur manis, lots of chicken lap chiongs, onions and shitake mushrooms. At first I thought of making nasi goreng but heck my Indian movie was on hold and so...I just stir-fried all the ingredients with mushroom sauce and a bit of the steam fish sauce. Done! The man of the house was fed and I am happy! :)

Quick Fix Chicken Rendang

A follow up recipe for this post-- Hungry Hobbit

I don't have the exact measurement for the ingredients since it was a quick fix. Thus I will only list down what I used.

2 pieces of chicken breasts
shredded ginger
shallots
ready made rendang powder (brought it from M'sia)
lightly crushed cashew nuts
olive oil
fresh milk (to replace coconut milk)
salt
light soy sauce
water
celery for garnish


1. Heat frying pot and add olive oil.
2. Throw in crushed cashew nuts and fry until the cashews turn golden brown. Take them out and set aside.
3. Still using the same oil, stir in shredded ginger and sliced shallots.
3. Add the chicken breasts. Fry both sides of the meat for a minute and cover the pot for 2 minutes.
4. Add adequate water (enough to cover the chicken meat) and let the chicken sit for another 4 minutes with the pot covered. Check in between.
5. Add in the ready made rendang powder to taste. Add half cup of milk. Stir consistently and boil for another 5 minutes.
6. Add salt and light soy sauce to taste.
7. Add the fried cashews. Constantly stir.
8. Turn the fire off and let the pot sit for a minute before garnishing with celery to serve.

Fried Rice with Minced Beef and Lettuce

Hobbit husband prepared this HK style fried rice adapted from one of our Periplus Mini Cookbooks. He is really inspired to become a good cook (and a good husband of course) and plan to take over the kitchen the next time we have guests over! In fact, he has been taking over most of the time, especially in doing the dishes. As I am typing this out, he is busy baking cookies!

If you enjoy Chinese fried rice, you got to try this recipe which we modified a bit to suit our tastebuds. I really like the combination of lettuce + minced beef in this recipe. When mixed together with other ingredients used in this recipe, the lettuce + minced beef brought a lot of Chinese flavor to the fried rice. So here's the ingredients...

Marinade:
2 tsp light soy
1 tsp sugar
1tsp cornflour
pinch pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup minced beef
5 tsp oil
1 egg, beaten
3 cups cooked rice
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup lettuce, shredded
1 tsp diced spring onion
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Combine all marinade ingredients except for the olive oil. Then add the beef and set aside for 10 mins.
2. Heat wok with 3 tbsp of oil and fry the minced beef until it just loses its pinkness, breaking it up with a fork as it cooks.
3. In a clean wok, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil and scramble the egg for 20 sec. Stir in the cooked rice and saute well.
4. Add the light soy and pepper, minced beef and shredded lettuce to fry evenly. Sprinkle in the diced spring onions and the sesame oil. Transfer to a serving dish.

This measurement serves 2. :)

Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables

This was the only vegetables I had for the CNY gathering.

Ingredients without exact measurements:

soft white fungus, soaked and trimmed (You can use black fungus too!I ran out of black fungus)
baby corn, sliced to half
canned button mushrooms, halved
cauliflower, cut into sprigs
carrot, sliced
broccoli, cut into florets
soaked and cooked Chinese mushrooms, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable stock (use cubes)
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp mushroom sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Boil a small pan of water and blanch the white fungus. Rinse in cold water, drain and set aside. Blanch the baby corn and the button mushroom in the same pan of water and rinse.
2. Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add salt, cauliflower and carrot and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the baby corn and broccoli, button and fresh Chinese mushrooms and white fungus. Stir to combine.
3. Pour in the stock and continue cooking for 1 minute. Season with soy sauce, mushroom sauce, sugar and sesame oil.
4. Adjust the flavor to taste.
5. Serve.

Daron's Burger Sandwiches

Daron, Deanna, Lorena and Julie did an impromptu visit early one Sunday morning. Hobbit and I only managed to brush our teeth the minute they reached our apartment door. I opened the fridge and found that we had enough ingredients to put a burger sandwich together. Knowing that I have in my house someone who is good at preparing food, I asked Daron to be the chef of the day!

So here are the ingredients he used:

1. Whole wheat bread
2. Sliced cheese
3. Lettuce
4. Tomatoes
5. Chicken burger
6. Butter
7. pepper
8. Tomato/chili sauce (optional)

Method:
Prepare the bread, spread some butter to the bread, bake the burgers, slice the burgers horizontally into half, slice the tomatoes, wash the lettuce, put everything together, sprinkle some pepper on to the burgers, bake the prepared sandwiches and viola!

That easy!

Thanks a lot for the scrumptious breakfast Daron. Good luck with your next journey!

Seaweed Soft Boiled Rice

The Chinese had this tradition of cooking congee or soft boiled rice when someone in the household is not feeling well/sick. This tradition was passed down from my great grandmother who then influenced my grandmother to my mother and now I caught "the flu"! Hutttchewwww! It was and is believed that congee increases the sickling's appetite and gives him/her immense energy leading to recovery. Sounds like its one of a kind in healing wonders!

So I had runny nose and wanted something tasty and soft, one else could I think of if not seaweed congee! Hubby makes bowls of tasty, delicious one. Could be that he inherited congee cooking from his father - the well-known congee master in SASS! :)

Ingredients:

A cup of white rice
400ml water
Seaweed strands in a packet
Knorr mushroom cube
Carrots (cut in small cubes)
Sesame oil
Maggie seasoning (optional)
celery strips (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil rice in a pot filled with water for about 30 minutes. Cover the pot.
2. When rice is boiling, add cube-cut carrots and stir evenly. Cover half the pot. Check and stir regularly.
3. After 20 minutes, add knorr mushroom cube. One cube should be enough since the carrots will give sweet taste to the rice. Stir regularly and evenly.
4. Reduce heat. Add seaweed strips according to your liking and stir.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, stir and congee is ready to be served.
6. Garnish with celery or add seasoning to bring out the taste.

Chana Dhal Curry

Hobbit loves curry dishes. So today when I went to the kitchen and saw all the spices piling there, I thought okay, it's time for another Dhal take. So I dug deep into my fridge and see what combination would be wise to be cooked with the dhal or daal. Then I reached out for green chilies, onion, tomatoes, carrots, ginger and garlics. Too bad, I cannot give the exact propotion for this recipe for I let go and went for what my cooking instinct told me to do. Nevertheless, I know you home chefs, you have this instincts too right? :)

As I was halfway cutting and Hobbit heating the stoves, suddenly we smelled something rubber-like burning. I thought it must be the stoves but never in my cooking life heating stoves would release rubber-like smell. Then there was a spark! It came from the extension cord which was connected to the stove's cord. Hobbit quickly unplugged the cord and we watch the spark subsided with small puffing smoke! We could have burnt down the kitchen for all we know! Lucky enough we had an extra extension cord. Anyway, back to cooking...

To start with the cooking, I poured the soaked chana dhal and a mixture of masoor dhal into a half pot full of boiling water. I let it boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes (I don't have pressure cooker hence the time) while using the waiting time to prepare the combination and spices. Note that after 10 minutes I added the carrots into the boiling pot.

Now heat a pan and add olive oil and stir-fry the following ingredients: ginger-garlic paste, chopped onion, sliced green chilies, and tomatoes. For the spices, add sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin powder, tumeric powder and a pinch of garam masala. Stir fry these ingredients for a minute or two. Meanwhile, check the pot of dhal, add curry powder and salt to taste. Stir the mixture. Add a small cup of evaporated milk to make the curry thicker. The last step is to combine the ingredients in the pan into the pot and let everything simmer for a minute. Turn off heat and the food is ready to be served with rice.

Vegetarian Brinjal Curry

I don't know what is with me that I have this Indian food craving for almost 3 weeks already. Right now even Hobbit gets sick of helping me prepare all the Indian spices before I start cooking. I knew at the tip of his tongue that he wanted so much to blurt out "can we change the menu?" but can't help it since unconsciously I kept telling him about all the spices I recently learned about from the Internet and how it has somehow enriched my cooking skills. Maybe I should snap myself back to reality and get back to normal cooking?! But before that, let me jot down one of Hobbit's favorite brinjal curry that I made for lunch before I forget the ingredients the next time I want to cook it.

Ingredients:

2 long brinjals (dice into 4 parts about 1 cm long)
1 tomato (diced)
2 big chilies
1/4 cup fresh ginger (finely cut)
1/4 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp garam masala
a bit of mushroom sauce (optional)
pinches of salt to taste
a pinch of cumin seeds
1/4 cup e.v olive oil

1. Heat oil in a pan until hot.
2. Pour in ginger and cumin seeds and stir fry until fragrant.
3. Add brinjals. Stir fry and cover for 3 minutes.
4. Add in tomatoes and chilies.
5. Mix water and curry powder in a bowl and pour into pan.
6. Pour in evaporated milk, pinches of salt, mushroom sauce and garam masala. Mix well.
7. Lower heat. Leave it to simmer for another 3 minutes and turn off heat.
8. Serve with hot rice.

Japanese Potato Salad

We had our Malaysian potluck today at a friend's house. I was rather confused of what to bring and told one of our friend that I would bring whatever others won't bring. So Hobbit and I decided to just bring salad, something that would not give us too much hassle on Sabbath morning.

Here's the ingredients I use:

1kg potatoes
1 carrot
1 Japanese cucumber
1 red apple
Japanese mayonnaise
Pinches of roasted sesame seeds
Pinches of salt and pepper to taste

Remember to refrigerate before serving! *_*

Khao Phat Lap Chiong

Thought of preparing something nice for Hobbit husband today. So I quickly rushed into the kitchen and prepared Chinese sausage fried rice. Hobbit arrived as soon as I was done with my cooking. From his reaction, he was very pleased because he can skip all the cutting and washing (which he does for me every time I cook)!

Ingredients:

2 bowls of cooked rice

1 stick of Chinese chicken sausage

1/2 onion

1 big red chili

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 egg

light soy sauce to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tbsp oil

spring onion leaves and lime for garnish

1. Heat oil in wok until hot.
2. Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
3. Add chopped Chinese sausages.
4. Add the rice and stir fry until rice is evenly fried. Add a bit of water if needed.
5. Throw in the onions and chillies.
6. Break egg and spread it over the rice and continue to stir fry.
6. Season soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
7. Garnish and serve.

Som Tum Thai

Originated from Laos and settled first in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, som tum is also known as Tam mak hoong in Thailand's neighboring country, Laos. It is a spicy salad made from shredded unripened papaya. Thus the English name - Papaya salad, as to how most of us called it. Usually som tum is served with sticky rice(khao niaw) and barbecued chicken(gai yang). It goes with rice noodles and raw vegetables too! More often, it is simply a snack by itself. The spiciness depends on a person's tastebuds. If you are like me, you can opt. for a non-spicy papaya salad or to be like most of the Thais, throw in 10-20 bird-eye chilies to get the kick out of it! To go the Thai way, be prepared for a burning tongue! :)

My Ingredients:

• Dark green papaya
• garlic cloves
• bird-eye chilies
• long beans
• palm sugar
• fish sauce
• salt
• cherry tomatoes
• peanuts

Directions:

1. Peel papaya skin. Two ways to get long strips: smack it lengthwise with knife or use cheese grater.
2. Use ceramic mortar and pestle to pound and mash garlic cloves and chilies. Add long beans and pound some more.
3. Add fish sauce, palm sugar and salt to taste. Pound and mix well.
4. Throw in half-cut tomatoes and pound gently.
5. Add lime juice to taste and pour in the papaya strips. Pound for a while at the same time use spoon to mix the juices evenly. Be careful while pounding as you don't want to dissolve everything.
6. Lastly, pour in peanuts to garnish. Pound lightly before serving.

Sesame Steamed Broccoli

I almost forgot about the broccoli we purchased last week and it was sitting in the fridge waiting to screaming for us to do something with it before it rots. I, in moments of recipe block, couldn't think of any recipe for it. So many times, again, google became my resort.

Steamed Broccoli Recipe Ingredients:

1 tsp. oil
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. sugar
Steamed broccoli

Steamed Broccoli Recipe Cooking:

Heat oil. Brown sesame seeds in oil. Add the final three ingredients. Pour on top of steamed broccoli. Cover for a few seconds and tadaa!

source: Vegetable Recipes Cooking

Stir Fry Chicken Cutlets with Kim Chi

Cooking is such a therapeutic activity. Today I experimented on Chicken cutlets with Kim Chi and it turned out delicious-miscious! Hehe! Let's see what were among the ingredients:

2 stems of Kim Chi cabbages, 1/2 kg chicken cutlets, fine slices of gingers, 1/2 tbsp mushroom sauce, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, pinches of sugar, 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 of oil, and celery for garnish.

Heat oil in pan and slide in fine slices of gingers. Stir fry until ginger is fragrant. Throw in chicken cutlets and stir fry. Cover for a minute. Add Kim Chi and water and mix well. Add mushroom sauce, salt, pepper and sugar and stir the mixture for about a minute and cover for 2 minutes. When the mixture is sizzling, turn off heat and serve. Garnish with celery. Perfect recipe for cold days! :)

A&W Root Beer Chicken

Obviously my sweet tooth is on a loud speaker craving for sweet food. It happened that HHobbit bought a can of A&W root beer on his way to pick me up. As soon as I entered the car he offered his root beer. There goes the light bulb! Inspired, we rushed home and immediately got to work. Here is the ingredients I used. I didn't list down the exact amount of each ingredient because it is so much so depends on the amount of chicken or even the people you are cooking for. I am sure most of you have the measuring instinct when it comes to cooking right? :wink:

Ingredients:
1 can A&W root beer
minced ginger
minced garlic
chopped fine celery
extra virgin olive oil
corn flour
halfed chicken wings
chicken seasoning

HHobbit didn't quite like the sweetness from the root beer flavor, so to tame that we decided to add cooking sake just to bring out a little pungent taste to it.

Hokkien Mee

Hobbit and I were craving for the well-known Hokkien Mee usually available from Chinese restaurants back home. So to quench our taste buds, I went to Jusco and bought all the recipe needed and cooked what we call HOLY HOKKIEN MEE since I don't use pork lard, pork crackling bits and fresh yellow noodles.

Here's my recipe (if you don't mind the holiness):

Half packet of Japanese udon ramen
1/4 cup of thin sliced chicken
a handful of sliced green vegetables (can be replaced by Chinese cabbage)
Chinese dried mushroom
dark soy sauce
thick soy sauce
mushroom sauce
1/2 t fine sugar
1/4 t chicken flavoring
1 cup of water
pinches of salt
sprinkles of pepper
1/2 cup of olive oil

How to do it:

1. Turn the stove heat to medium-low and pour olive oil in the hot wok.

2. Slowly increase the heat and fry the chicken. Add 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce.

3. Fry the udon noodles (make sure to soak it in boiling water until it soften first if you're using this) and add 1 tablespoon of thick soy sauce, sugar, some pepper, chicken stock, chicken flavoring and water. Stir-fry the ingredients and later add the vegetables. Cover and increase the heat again. Don't forget to check and stir once in a while.

4. Remove the wok's lid and season with oyster sauce, light soy sauce and water if the udon is too dry. Wait for a minute and turn the heat off.

5. Serve with chilie condiments or tomato/chillie ketchup.

Scrambled Potato Patties

Reached home from work and too lazy to cook complicated meal. There were some left overs potatoes and was able to make scrambled potato patties.

1 large potato, finely chopped into tiny cubes
1 onion, minced
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup crisp flour, mixed with water
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Suji Semolina

I love eating suji semolina. Our Indian family doctor had introduced us to this staple many years ago. Hence my family members have then fallen in love with it.

The simplest way to prepare suji is by oiling the pan and throw in some shallots to fry. Fry until the shallots is turning crispy then add suji according to servings. Stir-fry for 3 minutes and don't forget to add water to keep the suji moist. Then add pinches of salt according to taste. Add black raisins and stir the whole ingredients. Cover the pan for a minute and viola! It is ready to be served.

You can either served it with slices of banana or smashed nuts.

Kimchi Fried Rice

HHobbit likes to cook his signature dish Kim Chi Fried Rice. Here are his recipes:

2 medium bowls of rice
1 clove garlic
1 dried chinese chicken sausage (lap chiong)
100g fermented kim chi
1 T oil
1 T Thai fish sauce
salt to taste


1. Fry garlic in heated oil.
2. Dump chicken sausage and stir fry for 1 minute.
3. Insert Rice and fry until everything in the pan is mixed evenly with rice.
4. Insert fermented kim chi and stir until rice is well blended with it.
5. Add Thai fish sauce and salt to taste then stir evenly.
6. Cover and simmer for a minute.
7. Kim Chi Fried rice is ready to be served.

Jolly Recipe Site

Christmas holiday is approaching. To those of you who will have family and friends at home during this season, have you thought of menus for dine-together session? Or thought of baking or making something new for your guests? Well, to add on your recipe collection, check out Kellogg's Keebler Simple Holiday Recipes. You can enjoy various types of delicious recipe which no doubt will suit the holiday taste buds. We especially enjoy cooking with Paulette Mitchell! *_*

Other holiday recipes you might enjoy:
Hershey's Kitchens
Cooks Recipes
Fabulous Foods
Razzle Dazzle Recipes