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.

Five Spices Chicken and Egg Herbs

I tried a new recipe today and tadaa...
Poured too much spices. Must lesson the spices next time.

Beef Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables

The next day we grilled the steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables as the side dishes. We wanted a quick fix so we used these readymades...

Just had to mix it with water and put it into the microwave.

Stir-fried with some sprinkles of salt.

Quite heavy for dinner! :)

Beef Steak with Baked Potato and Salsa

I realized that I have been unproductive since coming back from Sabah these few days. What is worst is that I don't have the appetite to eat anything but whole wheat bread + nutella and more nutella. Only chocolates and chocolaty stuff could satisfy my taste buds so far. This evening I decided to put something together and try to be myself again. So I asked Hobbit to do the shopping so I could prepare everything. Hence we had beef steak with baked potato and salsa for Sabbath dinner! It was indeed a lovely and enjoyable meal. Hobbit testified to it and told me he especially liked the baked potatoes and the half done steak.

Since this was a impromptu self-created recipe, I am quite hesitant to share. Didn't put so much thought on the ingredients unlike other dishes. Thus I don't know whether it is any better.

Two problems. One, I overestimated the bake time of the potatoes. They actually took longer to bake. Two, we had no proper table knife for the steak! Tomorrow lunch time will be another round of steak since we have another big chunk marinating inside the fridge. Wonder what will the side dishes be...

Happy Sabbath everyone!

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!

Green Tea Frappuccino

I am a green tea freak!
So get me Green Tea Frappuccino the next time we are in Starbucks!

Indian Achar Masala

My favorite pickle has to be the malay achar and the Indian masala mango pickle! Today, I managed to make Indian Achar!

Instead of using raw mangoes, I made like the malay use to make that is using carrots and cucumbers. Thanks to the ready made pickle masala!

All you need to do is add lime, mustard oil and pinches of salt to go with the powder. Then let it sit for a day or two inside a jar. I used a tupperware instead of a jar because I ran out of big jars. :(

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.