Cream of mushroom soup

Cream of mushroom soup (yields 3-4 small appetizer servings)

Ingredients:
-2tbsp butter, divided use
-1/4lb crimini/white mushrooms; clean with damp paper towel, cut half quantity into slices, chop the remainder
-1/2 medium onion, chopped
-1/8 cup flour
-2cup chicken broth/water
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.Melt half the butter in a saucepan and saute sliced mushrooms until golden. Set aside.
2. Add remaining butter to the same pan, along with the chopped mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle with salt, to taste. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft

3. Return sliced mushrooms to the pan. Add flour, stir constantly about 2mins, till smooth.
4.Slowly add chicken broth while stirring. Simmer, stir often, till thickened. Add pepper, to taste.
5.Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer (Note:Do not boil)


6.Ladle into mini soup cups or bowls and......................wait wait wait, you can't drink or eat it yet (be patient...) coz' I'm not done with everything !!!

Here's the twist (not by Chubby Chucker, of course)...WATCH!

Tag: soup, mushrooms, puff pastry

Sayur Lodeh - Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Gravy

Sayur Lodeh - Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Gravy (serves 6-8)


Ingredients:
Curry paste -
-16 dried red chillies, soaked in water 15mins
-2cup chopped shallots
-4 cloves garlic, peeled
-1tbsp turmeric powder
-1tbsp sambal belacan
-1.5tbsp dried shrimps, soaked in water 5mins, then rinsed off water


Vegetables & others -
-1cup thick coconut milk
-3cups chicken stock/broth
-3tbsp oil
-5cm galangal, peeled and smashed
-0.8lbs firm beancurd, cut to half
-1lbs long beans, cut into finger lengths
-0.8lbs baby carrot
-1.2lbs cabbage, cut into thick strips
-6-8 fishballs (option)
-4 hard-boiled eggs; to be halved (option)
-3cups water, adjust accordingly while cooking

Method:
1.Drain the chillies, and grind all curry paste ingredients together to a smooth paste

2.Mix half of the coconut milk with the stock
3.Heat oil in large saucepan and brown the beancurd on both sides. Remove and cut into bite-size
4.Fry curry paste in remaining oil until fragrant, add glangal, and stock-coconut milk mixture and bring to boil
5.Add long beans, carrots, beancurd, bring to boil. Add cabbage, fishballs, and cook briefly till vegetables are just tender but still firm. (Note: Do a taste test here-and add water/more broth accordingly)

6.Add remaining coconut milk, bring to boil, then remove from heat and garnish with hard-boiled eggs



7. Enjoy!

Tag: sayur lodeh, vegetables, coconut gravy

Wat Dan Hor -ried Rice Noodle with Seafood and Egg Gravy Sauce

"Wat Dan Hor" - Fried Rice Noodle with rich egg sauce (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-1lbs rice noodles/sticks (half from here)
-2tsp dark soya sauce
-oil for cooking

Gravy:
-6 medium-sized prawns; shelled and deveined - marinated with pinch of salt, pepper
-8 fishballs; sliced (to make them fishcakes-鱼饼 )
-1 piece chicken thigh meat; cut into bite-size
-0.8-1lbs bok choy and bok choy-sum, cleaned and cut into sections of stalks/stems and leaves

-1/2tsp crushed garlic
-1/2tsp crushed ginger
-1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water
-1/2cup chicken broth
-2 eggs
-pepper and salt to taste
-oil for cooking
-water

Method:
1. Loosen the fresh rice noodles
2.Heat oil and saute prawns till cooked, set aside
3.Add in fishball slices, fry till soft, set aside
4.Heat more oil in frying pan/wok at high heat add in rice noodles, add dark soya sauces and stir fry briskly (Note: You can allow noodles to burn a little at the edges for that smaky taste). Set aside.

5.Add more oil into frying pan and fry the chicken till cooked. Add in garlic, ginger and fry until fragrant.
6.Pour in broth and bring to the boil. Simmer 5mins.
7.Add in vegetables(stalks/stems first, then leaves since former takes longer to cook) and when gravy comes to a simmer, add in the cornflour mixture. Bring gravy back to simmer
8.Add in the cooked prawns and fishcakes. Season to taste.


9.Turn off heat and crack in the 2 eggs, stir to cook the eggs


10.Dish gravy onto the fried rice noodles


That's my Wat Dan Hor!
Fried Rice Noodle with Seafood and Egg Gravy Sauce (滑蛋虾仁 河粉)!
Another Tze Char (煮炒) being replicated!
Yummy Yummy!


Tag: seafood, egg, rice sticks, rice noodles

Stir fry spinach with fishcake

Stir fry spinach with fishcake (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-1lb spinach, cleaned thoroughly
-6-8 fishballs, thawed; and cut into thin slices (fish cake)
-1tsp crushed garlic
(Note: Fishballs contain some salt-as preservative(what else), so it will make this dish tasty even without adding salt)

Method:
1.Heat oil in frying pan at medium heat
2.Add garlic and fry till fragrant
3.Add in fish cake, quick fry for 1-2mins
4.Add in spinach, continue fry for 2-3mins
5. Serve!


Tag: stir fry, spinach, vegetables, fishballs

Chai Buey Soup -Chinese Mustard Vegetable Soup

Chai buey soup (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1pkt chinese mustard vegetable, sliced
-2 medium size tomatoes, cut into wedges
-1lb poultry (chicken or pork, any cuts you prefer)

Method:
1.Blanch pork to remove scum
2.Place pork and mustard in the slow cooker
3.Cook on high for 1 hrs
4.Turn to low, cook for 1-2 more hrs

5. Add the tomatoes early if you like it soft, add it 30mins before turning off the slow cooker if you prefer the "crunch"

6. Dish soup in a bowl whenever you are ready for drinking


Tag: vegetables, soup, mustard greens

Zhajiang noodles, 炸酱面

Zhajiang noodles, 炸酱面 (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1 ready-packed "regular" tofu, cut into small cubes
-1/4lb ground pork
-1tbsp chilli bean paste (a.k.a tou ban jiang, 豆瓣酱) - Lee Kum Kee recommended.
-1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
-1 stalk scallion/spring onion
-1 cucumber; washed, peel off skin, and julienned
-any noodles you prefer (Instant, Fresh, Dry, even your own hand-pulled ones!)

Method:
1.Heat some vegetable oil in frying pan
2.Add minced garlic to flavor the oil
3.Add ground pork and fry (on medium-high heat) for 4-5 mins
4.Add the chilli bean paste and continue frying for 2-3mins. If too dry, add some water
5.Finally, add the tofu, mix well into the spicy sauce and simmer covered for 3-5 mins

Tag: bean sauce, noodles, tofu

Steamed chicken with mushrooms and ginger

Steamed chicken with mushrooms and ginger (serves 4)

Ingredients:
-1lb chicken ( I use ~1/2lb thigh, cut into bite-size + 6 mid-joint chicken wings)
-6-8 fresh shitkae mushrooms, wipe with damp cloth, stalks removed, caps julienned
-2 pieces ginger, cut into fine shreds
-3 stalk scallions/spring onions, jullienned on the bias into strips
-1tsp crushed ginger


Marinade:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1tsp cornflour
1-2tsp sesame oil

Method:
1.Marinate chicken for 30 mins
2.Sprinkle mushrooms, ginger, scallions on bottom of plate (1st layer). Place on medium plate large enough to go into steamer. Start letting those "pizza creation"ideas fill you...plate like how you would prepare and top a pizza...(just that no cheese, no tomatoes, no olives - they are replaced by mushrooms, scallions and ginger)


3.Place chicken on top of 1st layer
4.Sprinkle remaining mushrooms, ginger, scallions on top of chicken (Does it look like a pizza?)


5.Boil water in steamer. When water is at a boil, add chicken and steam of 20-25mins


6. When done, serve hot with steamed rice - oh...it smell so good that I had to scoop that portion out to eat with rice quick! (Note:Any oil globules you see here is just the oil/fats from the chicken & that of sesame oil)



Tag: steamed chicken, mushrooms,ginger

Mini chicken pie

Mini chicken pie
Ingredients:
-Puff pastry (one puff pastry sheet remaining, after making curry puff and chicken strudel)
-Filling ingredients are same as chicken strudel

Chicken curry puff

Mini chicken curry puff (makes 9-10 minis)
Ingredients:
-1/3 of a sheet of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (1 box ~ 2sheets; 1 sheet~sectioned into 3 rectangulars). The other 2/3 of a sheet was used in Chicken Strudel.
-2-3cups chicken curry (Note: use your leftover homemade chicken curry with potatos, or cook chicken curry just for this, or use your preferred curry mix and add potatos). Make sure chicken curry is dry for the curry puff (Note: wet chicken curry will make the pastry soggy)
-1 hard-boiled egg, cubed

Method:
1. Thaw pastry per box instructions (Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry)
2. Cut 1/3 from one sheet of pastry; use rolling pin to flatten the pastry slighty
3.Use any round mould (small) to cut off circular sections, use rolling pin to flatten before adding filling
4.Add filling and top with cubed eggs

5.Wrap it up like a round curry puff, and remember to "poke" some holes on the top surface (thanks to Simcooks for the "poking" tip)
6.Place in preheated oven of 400F, and bake 20-25mins
7.Out comes the minis!

Small- just slightly bigger than those Chinese New Year peanut puffs (a.k.a kok chai)


Can you see those eggs ? Can I call it Young Chang Kee...because there's egg inside. The crust is so flaky and crumbly...love it!

Medium - Not available. Uncommon sizing, so not made by me, the "manufacturer"

Large - One piece left, almost out-of stock!! Most are already gobbled up by hungry people, like me. Compare the size of the Large and Small...


Extra Large- You just have to change the filling in here to get extra-large curry puff. Who says it can't be done?


Tag: curry puff

Chicken porridge

Chicken porridge (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-remaining chicken breast with rib from here
-~400ml chicken broth from here
-3-4 stalks from a bunch of celery, washed and chopped to small pieces
-1/2lbs baby carrot, washed and chopped to small pieces
-1cup frozen corn, thawed
-1.5l water
-dash of pepper, to taste
-1.5cup rice

Method:
1. Cook porridge per proportion of rice
2.In a pot, boil the chicken broth with water
3.When boiled, add in celery, carrots, and corn, continue boil 15-20mins
4.By this time, the porridge is already cooked, scoop out the porridge and add into pot with broth

5.Boil just for a while more for 5mins, stirring evenly
6.Garnish with fried shallots and parsley, and serve



Tag: porridge, congee, chicken

Beef kway teow (rice sticks)

Beef kway teow (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-~1lb flap beef
-~1lb fresh/dry rice noodles or kway teow (if dry, blanch them till they are 95% cooked). I got myself fresh ones like this:

-1/2lb you chai (can be kailan too)
-1/2pack enoki mushrooms(option: these are awkward amounts left in my fridge but they are actually great with beef...think of a teppanyaki dish, will you? Enoki mushrooms add that special touch...you can't find it in other beef kway teow! It turned out to be a special ingredient!)
-3tbsp vegetable oil
-1tsp crushed ginger(or 4 slices fresh ginger)
-2tsp crushed garlic(or minced)

Seasoning:
-1tbsp soya sauce
-2tsp Chinese wine
-1tbsp oyster sauce
-1tsp cornflour
-1tsp sesame oil
-1tbsp vegetable oil

Method:
1.Slice beef THINLY against the grain.
2.Marinate the beef with all the seasoning ingredients(EXCEPT vegetable oil) for 30mins.
After 30 mins, add the vegetabe oil.
3.Heat 1tbsp oil in a wok, stir fry the enoki and you chai till partially cooked or lightly limp (2-3mins).
4.Set them aside.
5.Heat 1tbsp of oil in a wok; till hot, fry/saute garlic
6.Add rice noodles and stir fry for about 4-5mins till lightly browned
7.Set the noodles aside.
8.Heat remaining oil in wok, add beef, remaining marinade and ginger
9.Stir fry beef till colour changes.

11. Add rice noodles and vegetables, stir fry till everthing is well coated.
12. Serve hot or warm (I got this tip from Simcooks - if not consumed immediately, wrap up with Al-foil and steam before serving. Less an oily plate to wash. Yay!)


Tag: beef, rice sticks, beef kway teow

Chicken strudel/chicken pie

Chicken Pie (serves 2 if hungry, serves 4 under normal conditions)
Ingredients:
-2/3 of 1 sheet rectangular puff pastry sheet, thawed per instructions on packaging
-1 large carrot, boiled and cubed
-1 large potato, boiled and cubed
-1 cup frozen corn, thawed (Option: you can use frozen mixed vegetables-peas, carrots, corn, to substitue carrot and corn)
-2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
-1tbsp olive oil
-1tsp cornflour mixed in 2tbsp water(adjust accordingly)
-1 hard-boiled egg, cubed
-salt, and pepper, to taste

Method:
Filling-
1.Heat oil in pan, add in chicken, corn, carrot, and potato to fry lightly 2-3mins
2.If too much moisture, add in cornflour paste to thicken till almost dry
3.Add in salt and pepper, to taste. When filling is cooked, set aside to cool


Crust-
4.Preheat oven to 350-400 degrees F (175 degrees C)
5.Prepare pastry


6.Add filling, then add eggs on top of filling


7.Seal and crimp edges of pastry; rub some butter on the pastry before baking in oven


8.Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30mins, or until golden brown


Biting into it...the flaky pastry, warm soft potatos& carrots...I'm lovin' it!