Happy Food Happy Thots

Japanese Sushi Lunch

2009-11-27T17:52:00.006+08:00

Long weekend with Hari Raya Haji falling on Friday. It has been a while since I last make sushi. So far, I have been rolled sushi (maki) with the nori outside. Decided to try the reverse method which is nori on the inside and rice on the outside. Did some research on how to do it and finally settled on California Maki. Seems pretty easy from the video I saw on the web.

After getting all my ingredients ready, I started on my 1st california roll. It was terible...I didn't realize I was supposed to use half a sheet of nori. Instead I use the entire piece. I ended up with a "jumbo" size California roll....plus my rice could not cover the nori completely and I literally had to cut off the excess nori that was "hanging" from my maki roll....:(

2nd attempt was much better after I stick to half a sheet of nori only. My rice was able to cover the nori completely and I was able to roll the ingredients tightly inside the maki roll. After topping with the fish roe, I was very happy and satisfied with the end product. It looked quite close to the california maki I buy from those sushi joint....not too bad, right? hahaha...

I also make some sushi pockets and topped it with tuna mayo and fish roe. That is much simpler compared to california maki.
Finally, after boiling the endamame, I can sit down to a filling and fulfilling lunch. Cheers!

Cookies Mania

2009-11-27T17:13:00.004+08:00

My two favourite cookies of all time..Chocolate Oat Cookies and Chocolate Chips cookies. Planning to bake them for my friends during Christmas and wanted to try out the recipe before I make a bigger batch. So that's how I started baking them now.

The chocolate chips cookies is from my trial and tested recipe. Chocolate oat cookies is my 1st attempt but they turned out pretty good and it has a chewy texture to it. My mum like this better as it is a softer cookies and less harsh on her teeth. :)

Chocolate Oat Cookies (makes about 20 big cookies)
Ingredients
90g butter
70g caster sugar (I used brown sugar to give it a more brown coloured look)
1 egg, beaten
80g Cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder and baking soda each
40g chocolate bits or chocolate chips
90g rolled oats

Method
1. Cut butter into small cubes.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a bowl. Set aside for later use.
3. Using a hand held beater, cream the sugar with butter till sugar is completely blended into butter.
4. Add beaten egg in 3 portions and continue to cream till egg is completely used up.
5. Fold in the sift flour/baking powder/baking soda in in 2 to 3 batches using metal spoon.
6. Line baking tray with baking paper.
7. Drop spoonful of the mixture on the baking tray, making sure to leave adequate space in between (This is to ensure your cookies don't stick together after baking).
8. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 mins till it is golden brown. Remove from tray. Cool and store in airtight containers.

Easy Homemade Pizza

2009-10-31T21:02:00.007+08:00

Wanted pizza but unwilling to fork out money for pizza with little toppings? The best solution is to make your own pizza at home. These days, with so many choices of ready-made pizza bases to choose from at the supermarket, whipping up your own pizza with your favourite toppings is really a breeze. Best part is you get to choose what you put on the pizza (usually lots of toppings and they only cost half the price of the pizza you ordered.....:)

Easy Homemade Pizza
Ingredients
1 ready made pizza base (I got mine from Cold Storage supermarket)
2 to 3 tblsp Tomato paste
Canned mushrooms (sliced)
Green pepper (sliced)
Picnic Ham (sliced)
Morzarella cheese (shredded)

1. Pre-heat oven at 200 degrees celsius.
2. Place ready made pizza base on a baking tray. Spread tomato paste onto pizza base. Sprinkle some morzarella cheese ontop. This will help to "stick" the ingredients onto the pizza once it is baked.
3. Add the other ingredients onto the pizza. You can add other ingredients or your preference e.g., pepperoni, olives, pineapple, seafood etc.
4. Top generously with morzarella cheese making sure all the ingredients are covered.
5. Bake the pizza at 200 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes till the base is brown and cripsy and the cheese has melted.
6. Serve with chilli flakes and grated cheese.

It's really easy and highly recommended when you don't want to spend too much time and effort whipping up something elaborate. It is also a good choice for friends' gathering at home. Just make sure you prepare beer to go with your pizza...it will definitely be a hit!

Oaty Banana Muffins

2009-05-31T21:52:00.006+08:00

My second bake of the day. Recipe is from a cupcake recipe book I borrowed from the library. I can't remember the title of the book already but I have used this recipe a few times already. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Not only is the muffin easy to make, the results are always consistent, so you can be ensured of a good bake each time :)

You can bake these as small cupcakes or big muffins. Both yielded about the same result and texture. I use these cupcakes case with little strawberries on them and filled them about 3/4 full. After 15 to 18 mins of baking, a beautiful dome shape cupcake is born!

Oaty Banana Muffins (makes about 21 small muffins)
Ingredients
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
75g porridge oats (I used Quaker instant oats)
3 eggs beaten
175g caster sugar or brown sugar
pinch of salt
250ml corn/sunflower oil
2 medium ripe banana (mashed or cut into small pieces - depending on your preference)

Method
1. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the oats.
2. Beat eggs, sugar and oil and salt in another bowl till pale (sugar has dissolved). Add this to flour mixture and stir till all the flour has been completely mixed. Do not over mix as your muffins will turn out to be hard.
3. Fold in chopped bananas.
4. Spoon mixture into cupcakes/muffin cases (about 3/4 full).
5. Bake for 15 mins at 180 degrees. Bake for another 2 mins at 200 degrees for a golden brown crispiness.
6. Cool the muffins and store in air tight containers.

These should be consumed within 2 to 3 days to ensure the freshness.

Almond Cookies

2009-05-31T21:14:00.004+08:00

It's only after I logged on my own blog that I realize I have not been blogging for almost a year now :p Actually, I have been baking and cooking every now and then. Just that I usually did not take the extra effort to take pictures or post the pictures.

Today after my bake, while waiting for them to cool down before I pack them into the container, I decided to take out my camera and that is how this blog "materializes". Almond cookies are something that most of us usually bake during our traditional chinese lunar new year, but since my ground almonds is expiring soon and I love to have some, so I got down to baking it anyway!

These cookies are really easy to make. I got this recipe from Aunty Yochana (http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com). No beating or creaming required. Just mix all the ingredients and mix it into a dough. Roll them into small little rolls and they are ready to go into the oven. I am pretty happy with the results and how they turn out in the pictures. My happiness is complete when I bite into these tiny little cookies.....yummy! This is definitely the recipe I will use if I want to make almond cookies again!

Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-26T20:57:00.023+08:00

Just got a book on cookies from the library recently and was inspired to try making some of them inside the book. What is great about this book is that it has a pictorial step by step section showing how to go about doing all the steps so for an amateur like me who seldom make cookies, this book really motivated me to give those cookies a try....:) although it is in chinese so I had some problem understanding what are some of the ingredients on the recipes....:(

Anyhow, I decided to try my hand at the walnut chocolate cookies which looks simple enough. I was quite happy with the end results since most of the cookies turn out almost the same size. It would seem that the effort to roll them into small little balls before placing them on the baking sheet does help to ensure the size does not differ too much. Don't forget to ensure there is sufficient space in between as the biscuit does expand quite a fair bit. My nieces and nephew are the happy recipients of these cookies and they immediately polish off 8 pieces at one go......I am glad they turn out well enough and it does gives me some additional confidence to try more cookies in the days to come....:)

Fruit cake

2008-07-26T20:57:00.021+08:00

I had always wanted to bake a whole cake but never had the opportunity or the motivation till I came across the cake recipe book from the library [think it's called Alex Goh Baking Class]. The cakes inside the book are really beautiful and since I am most confident in baking butter cake, I decide to bake a fruit cake which also is a favourite cake for my parents at home.

It's a pretty simple cake yet great for everyone old and young, big and small...:) I made some adaptions to the recipe though...instead of adding the glazed cherries, dried apricots etc, I bought a batch of mixed fruits instead (had raisins, mixed peel, green red glazed cherries) and use that in the fruit cake and I added almonds and walnuts instead of macadamia nuts. But I felt that the cake is a bit dry and in my next attempt, I will definitely add in some milk to make a smoother texture cake.

Fruit cake
Ingredients
200g butter
150g brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tblsps golden syrup
180g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g almonds
100g macadamia nuts (I did not add this)
100g walnuts
150g dried apricots
50g glazed red cherries
150g raisins
4 tblsp orange juice

Method
1. Mix all the dried fruits with orange juice and set aside for 1 hour.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light. Add eggs (1 at a time) and golden syrup and continue to cream till smooth and creamy.
3. Sieve in flour and baking powder and mix until well blended.
4. Add the fruits and nuts and mix until well incorporated with the batter.
5. Pour into a oiled and lined loaf tin and bake at 170C for 1 hour.

Moist Walnut Banana Cake

2008-07-26T20:57:00.020+08:00

Cake recipe dug up from old recipe file kept by my sister...apparently it has been a tried and tested recipe many years back by my sister so I am pretty confident it will take out well. :) The cake is really simple to bake and the cake is really soft and yummy. I already had an order to bake this cake....:) this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Banana Walnut Cake
Ingredients
250g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 cups self raising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 large ripened banana, mashed
100g walnuts, chopped

Method
1. Cream butter and sugar till light. Add eggs one at a time and continue to cream till light and creamy.
2. Sieve in flour and mix until it is well incorporated.
3. Add in mashed banana and milk till a dropping consistency is obtained.
4. Pour the batter into a bundt cake tin (or any cake tin of your choice). Smooth the top with a scrapper and top with chopped walnuts.
5. Bake at 180C for 50 minutes.

Yakitori Chicken Bento Lunch

2008-05-20T21:48:00.005+08:00

Have been busy at work lately and with all the hectic travelling on the job, I did not have the time and energy to go groceries shopping and cooking. However, after having canteen food for the past few days, I am really really quite sick of it and was wondering if I could put together a simple lunch for tomorrow. A quick glance at what is in my fridge "uncovered" my "withering" broccoli and baby carrots which is growing "old".....thought I better "finished" them off rather than to see them ended up in my rubbish chute....:p

Just had a very nice yakitori chicken don yesterday at Sushi Teh and was wondering if I could put together the same item.....:) A quick stir-fry of the onion, chicken slices, a few tablespoons of yakitori sauce, soy sauce and black soy sauce and my yakitori chicken bento is completed!

Yakitori Chicken Bento
Ingredients
100g chicken, diced (my mother sliced the chicken instead!)
1/2 onion, sliced
3 tblsp yakitori sauce (available in Japanese section of any major supermkt)
1/2 tblsp soy sauce (to marinate the diced chicken at least 15 minutes before)
1/2 tblsp black soy sauce
1 tblsp water
1/2 tsp Cornflour (to be dissolved with some water to form a cornstarch solution)
Blanched broccoli and baby carrots

Method
1. Heat some oil in a pan and stir fry onions till its fragrant and soft.
2. Add the marinated chicken and quickly stir fry till its almost cooked.
3. Add all the sauces and water and continue to stir fry till chicken is cooked.
4. Stir in 1 tblsp of cornstarch solution to thicken the sauce.
5. Remove chicken from heat and top on white rice after it has cooled off.
6. Add blanched broccoli and baby carrots (or vegetables of your choice)by the side.

Teriyaki Meat Balls Bento

2008-03-04T10:02:00.011+08:00

I am back into making and packing bento again! This is the two bento I brought to office today. This one is for me (I love the cutie bunny bento belt).....

And this is lunch box I prepared for my lunch kaki.

This is two of my new bento box from my bento collection. Over the past 1 and a half year, I have accumulated more bento boxes than I can imagine in the course of my travelling. Ever since I started bento-ing, I just couldn't resist buying new bento box each time I see one although I will usually use the regular 2 - 3 boxes. However, I have decided to put most if not all of the boxes to good use instead of allowing them to accumulate dust in my kitchen cabinet. So here they are.

The boxes are actually pretty small in size (only about 470ml each) so it's quite amazing I managed to "squeeze" everything into the tiny box! Sure can help to control my food intake if I consistently stick to using these bento boxes :) The contents of the 2 bento lunches are the same. Teriyaki meat balls and stir fried broccoli, carrot and bamboo shoots.

I shall have to chew slowly to make my lunch last longer given that the proportion is smaller than my usual lunch....hahaha......

Stir fried broccoli and cauliflowers with carrots and tofu

2008-02-28T22:12:00.004+08:00

This is the dish I cooked to complement the sweet and sour fish. Not only is broccoli and cauliflower low carbo food, they are also great fat burning food! Of course not forgetting that they provide lots of fibre too. This is one of the dish I like to cook when I want lots of fibre.

Stir Fried Broccoli Cauliflowers with Carrot and Tofu
Ingredients
Broccoli flowerets (about 200g), separated into small clusters
Cauliflower flowerets (about 200g), separated into small clusters
1 carrot, sliced
1 tube of tofu, sliced
Handful of cashew nuts
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water/broth
cornstarch mixture

Method
1. Blanched broccoli, cauliflowers and carrots in hot boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and set aside for use later.
2. Heat some oil in wok. Pan fried tofu on both sides till crispy on the surface. Remove and set aside.
3. Heat oil in wok, adding broccoli, cauliflowers and carrots, salt, soy sauce and water. Bring to a boil, cooking for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add tofu.
4. Stir in cornflour mixture till sauce is thickened.
5. Sprinkle cashew nuts on vegetables before serving it with white rice.

Sweet and Sour Fish

2008-02-28T21:40:00.005+08:00

My nephew is a very picky eater. It is pretty hard to get him to eat anything unless they are his favourite food. However, he is a big fan of the sweet and sour fish at Jumbo seafood restaurant and can easily polish off a plate of white rice with just the fish. This being the case, I decided to give it a try so that I could cook it for him next round and save my sis loads of money. :)

Overall, I think the sweet and sour fish tastes alright although there is definitely room for improvement. The fish is not coated with sufficient batter and I think I did not add enough ketchup and vinegar. The sauce did not taste sourish enough and was also slightly diluted as I have added too much water at my mum's cajoling. :( Still, I like it pretty well enough and for those who are "courageous" enough to give this a try, here are the ingredients.

Sweet and Sour Fish
Ingredients
2 pcs of white fish fillet, sliced
2 - 3 tblsp plain flour
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, diced
chives, cut into 3-4cm length
8 tblsp tomato ketchup
2 tblsp sugar
2 tblsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
4 tblsp water or broth
cornflour mixture

Method
1. Mix ketchup, sugar, vinegar, salt and water in a bowl. Stir till it is well mixed. Set aside for use later.
2. Coat fish with plain flour.
3. Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, deep fry fish slices till they are golden brown. Drain and set aside for use later.
4. Drain oil and stir fry onions till they are fragant. Add tomatoes and sweet and sour solution. When solution starts to boil, add the fish slices and chives. Give it a quick stir to coat the fish with the sauce.
5. Stir in cornflour mixture till the sauce thickens.
6. Serve sweet and sour fish immediately with white rice.

I will definitely be refining this receipe again, so do keep a lookout.

Is J Co donuts in Spore as good as those in Jakarta?

2008-02-28T11:06:00.006+08:00

I finally got a chance to make my way down to J Co outlet in Raffles City this week to get a feel of the donuts selling in Singapore. There were about 5 to 6 people in front of me when I join the queue. Queue management is bad as there is only 1 active server who is taking the orders. This is partly due to space constraint at the counter as there is insufficient space for another server to move behind the 1st server. As such, the box gets pass on from 1 server to another when the customer has done his or her selection of donuts that is within the reach of the 1st server. Donuts that is out of the reach of 1st server will be added to the box by the 2nd server. This arrangement is alright but if the customer decided to buy more than 1 box (i.e more than a dozen), that is when the problem arises. After donuts selection for the 1st box is done, customer will proceed to place order for the 2nd box and 3rd box for donuts that is within the vicnity of the 1st server. All the while, the 2nd server is actually not doing anything as the customer has not moved down to her section as yet. This is actually the main reason for the build up in the queue.

On top of this, I have to say that the donuts are not as impressive as those I saw in Jakarta. The donuts I saw on display are not of standard size. You can see from the picture I posted that 2 different donuts I ordered looks different. One is round shape while the other one strangely is oval in shape. The donut topping is also not as nicely or professionally done. Fork is remotely missing from the counter and I saw many people ended up using their bare hands to eat the donuts. We also placed orders for 2 cappucino and it took 3 visit to the drinks counter before we got them. Weirdly, my friend's cappucino look whitish and tasted like latte while mine is brownish and tasted more like the genuine cappucino. Menu does not offer orange juice and nope, all transactions must be paid in cash, no NETS or VISA available at the outlet.

Overall, I would say the visit is quite disappointing and would definitely hope that J Co in Singapore would iron out the initial teething problems soon to ensure a more seamless and enjoyable experience at their outlet.

For now, I would still flex my hand muscle and lug home as many donuts as I can from Jakarta.

High Protein Bento Lunch

2008-02-20T13:15:00.007+08:00

My high protein low carbo lunch. :)

Consists of the following:
1. Teriyaki Chicken Wings
2. Blanched tofu, endamame and baby carrots
3. Bacon roll with enoki mushrooms

Quite easy to put the items together although the bacon roll will take slightly a bit more time. But then they are so yummy, it makes the time spent all worth it. :) So if you keen to try, here it is.

Bacon Roll with Enoki Mushroom
Ingredient
Streaky Bacon, 4 slices
Half a batch of enoki mushroom, stems/roots cut and washed thoroughly
Yakitori sauce (available in Japanese section of any supermarket)

Method
1. Place streaky bacon on chopping board or flat surface.
2. Place 10-15 strands of enoki mushroom on bacon.
3. Roll up till bacon is fully used up, pressing down on the ends.
4. Brush yakiniku sauce on both sides of the bacon roll.
5. Heat some oil in a non-stick pan and place bacon (ends down) on the pan.
6. Pan fry bacon roll till slightly crispy.
7. Remove from heat. Packed into bento box with teriyaki chicken wings, tofu and blanched vegetables of your choice.

Enjoy!

J Co Donuts has finallly arrived in Singapore!!

2008-02-15T16:19:00.006+08:00

Hip hip hooray! That's my reaction when I learnt that J Co has finally make its way to Singapore. Due to my work nature, I travel to Jakarta occasionally for business and each time I am in Jakarta, I never fail to "gorge" myself on J Co donuts and of course not forgetting to "lug" home as many donuts as my hands could carry. Although there are many donut chain in Jakarta like Crispy Creme, Dunkin Donuts, I-crave just to name a few, I still think that J Co donuts are the best cos of their texture. It is really soft and springy and of course the multitude of choices is also another reason why I am crazy over J Co donuts. The picture above is donuts from J Co Jakarta. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the donuts so that I could look at them (yup even though they have ended up in my stomach). :p

I used to lament why it is that there is no J Co in Singapore. I was even more upset when I learnt that J Co has "landed" in KL during my trip to Jakarta in Jan 08. Why in KL and not in Singapore, I thought. Why did J Co not thought of setting up operations in Singapore as well since we are so near to each other? So you can imagine my excitement and happiness when finally finally J Co donuts are available in Singapore.

I have not yet had the chance to "chiong" down to the one and only branch in Singapore to lay my hands on any of the donuts yet, so I can't tell for now if the donuts are as good as the ones I had in Jakarta. Hopefully, I can find the time this weekend. And hopefully I will not have to contend with long snaking queues found in other donut chains around Singapore. Well, guess I don't have to fear cos J Co is expected to open 13 branches island wide in Singapore with the 2nd branch opening in Bugis in May. So for now, I shall keep my fingers crossed and dream of sinking my teeth into J Co donuts every weekend! :)

Soba with Oriental Mushrooms

2008-01-10T09:09:00.001+08:00

Today's lunch recipe is courtesy of Jan 08 Shape magazine. I had always wonder what I can do with soba besides making it into cold noodles. They taste great but after a whole morning "soaking" in the cold dry air-con in office, I am not that keen to have cold noodles for lunch. So when I saw this recipe, I was very keen to give it a try. After all, the ingredients are pretty simple to buy and prepare and the cooking does not require lots of complicated steps. And so here it is!

Soba with oriental mushrooms (Serves 2)
Ingredients
70g soba
50g shimeji mushrooms
50g oyster mushrooms, sliced
4 big shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
100ml vegetable/chicken stock (I used chicken stock cubes and dissolve them in hot water instead)
1 tbsp sake
2 tbsp olive oil
Splash of soy sauce
Chilli powder

Garnishing
1 tomato, diced
Black sesame seeds
Parsley or chives, chopped

Method
1. Cook soba until al dente, then drain and set aside for use later.
2. Heat up olive oil in non-stick pan and saute the garlic and mushrooms.
3. When the mushrooms starts to wither, add sake, soy sauce and vegetable stock. Let the mushrooms continue to cook till it's fairly dry.
4. Add soba, chilli powder and toss together.
5. Top with chopped tomato, black sesame seed and parsley.

I really like this recipe. It is a very light dish with nice mushroom fragrance as you eat the soba. Great for those vegetarians as there is no meat in it. For those who is not a fan of mushrooms, this might not be the dish you want to cook though. I will definitely cook this again although I will reduce the cooking time for the soba. They were a bit too soft for my liking. And I will not toss all the garnishing into the soba the next round. Just sprinkle them on top and I am sure it will improve the visual effect of this dish. :)

Fried Rice Bento Lunch 080108

2008-01-08T12:58:00.003+08:00

Fried rice paradise!! It's been a while since I cooked fried rice and it's such a easy lunch to prepare for the lazy me. Fried rice is such a versatile dish and you can add anything you want to leftover rice and voila! A new dish instantly. For this, I added imitation crabstick, luncheon meat, garden peas and eggs. I also added 2 teriyaki chicken wings to add some protein to the lunch. And isn't it luckily I had this ready today cos it was raining heavily at 12noon. I was really glad I don't have to brave the wind and rain and it make me appreciate the fried rice even more!!!*lol*

Tri-Colour Bento Lunch 03 Jan 08

2008-01-03T11:30:00.001+08:00

A new year, a new beginning! I am back to packing my lunch to office and for a start, I make a very simple lunch for today - which I called it tri-colour cos it has 3 different ingredients piled on a bed of white rice. Added 2 chicken wings for extra oomph.....! Today's lunch is really very easy to prepare. So for those who thinks it looks interesting, do give it a try.

Green
Garden peas, blanched in salt water and drained. Set aside for use later.

Yellow
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp sugar
Salt
Add the ingredients to beaten egg. Heat oil in a pan over high fire.
Pour in egg mixture and stir it with 3-5 chopsticks till egg resembles pieces of bread crumbs.
Remove and set aside for use later.

Brown
50g minced pork (can be substituted for beef or chicken)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cooking sake
1 tsp mirin
3/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp water
Heat oil in a pan and stir fry pork till almost cooked.
Add the other remaining ingredients and continue to stir fry.
Turn down the heat and let it simmer till it is fairly dry.
Remove from pan and set aside for use later.

Glazed Chicken Wings
2 mid joint chicken wings
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cooking sake
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup water
Place the chicken wing in a non-stick pan and cook till it's brown on both side.
Add water and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add other remaining ingredients and let it simmer till chicken wings are glazed.
Remove from pan.

Top the individual ingredients on the white rice. Pack chicken wings by the side. Enjoy!

Food galore in Kyoto n Osaka

2007-12-19T14:28:00.001+08:00

I had intended to make a second post of the food I ate in Kyoto much earlier but was not feeling too well after my trip back. Guess too much food and cold air make me sick.......haha.....guess I have only myself to blame for eating so much. And then I am back home, I was caught up with the unpacking and cleaning up and before I know I am busy with Christmas shopping and eating again.....so this late post. Anyway, here are the food pics.

Most of the time, I try to take pic of the food I ate but on some occasions, it's actually quite difficult with the crowd in the restaurant and frankly speaking I am quite embarrassed to whip out my camera and snap away. So I actually took the pics with my camera phone instead (more discrete compared to camera), so that might explain why the resolution for some pics are not fantastic. In any case, if the pics can talk, they will tell you how wonderful they taste......haha.....hope my pics do the food justice.

This is what I had in an italian restaurant which we found "underground". It's a shop located in the basement away from the busy street. If not for the advertisement, we would not have found this place. They are also the very few restaurants that has an English menu which we could use to order our food. We were really happy to finally be able to order food without just pointing at pics and when the food arrived, we were not disappointed either. The spaghetti was wonderful, salad was crisp and dessert was not too sweet. Overall, it was a very enjoyable dinner.

I also managed to have okonomiyaki on 2 separate occasions and it was althogether an interesting and fun encounter cooking your own food right in front of you. Needless to say, I enjoyed the cooking as much as the food itself. :p Here are some of the okonomiyaki pictures.

And of course not forgetting the japanese food........udon and ramen.

Well....think that's all the food I can stomach for now. Enjoy the pictures! :)

Day 1 in Osaka

2007-12-12T08:36:00.001+08:00

Wow! Finally touch down in Osaka Kansai airport after a six hour flight. Really cold the moment I stepped off from the plane. It's close to 11 degrees although the temperatures are expected to drop to 6 degrees in the night and in the early morning. As it is only 835am in the morning, there is hardly a very long queue at the customs and it took us less than half an hour to clear through the customs and get our luggage.

We locked up our luggage in a coin operated locker and then we are off to Rinku Town (a shopping mall with all the branded goods at factory outlet prices) which is a 15 mins train ride from Kansai airport. We took the JR train which is very fast and clean. The rail cuts across a wide expanse of sea and its just amazing fast and comfortable. We notice that before we board the train, the seats inside the train will be automatically "reversed" so that every passenger will be facing the front of the train and this will be done again once the train reaches the terminal station at the end of the journey.

This is Rinku Town. Very nice place and the best thing is it's not crowded being so early in the morning.

I was more of window shopping then doing any serious shopping here though and after wondering around the mall for about 2 hours, I decided to call it a day and make my way back to Kansai airport for my lunch. I was really hungry when I sat down and ordered my lunch and I really can't wait to eat them. Me and my colleague ordered a set each. I had sashimi set which is really very fresh and yummy.

My colleague had the sushi udon set.

Really enjoyed the lunch and I am really looking forward to the next few days ahead....:P

Marble Cake

2007-12-01T20:04:00.002+08:00

A easy-to-bake cake for tea break during weekend.....:p

Ingredients
150g plain flour
150g butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 -2 tblsp cocoa powder (dissolved in hot water to form a smooth solution)
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
Diluted condensed milk

Method
1. Sieve plain flour and baking powder together.
2. Cream butter and sugar till creamy.
3. Add in eggs and vanilla essence gradually one at a time. Continue creaming.
4. Fold in flour and add milk when necessary.
5. Divide mixture into half. Add half to cocoa mixture and mix well.
6. Pour mixture alternately into a baking tin.
7. Run a fork through the baking tin to make the marble design.
8. Bake at 150 degree for half an hour.

Tempura Crab cakes

2007-12-01T19:37:00.002+08:00

Saw this recipe from a food magazine some time ago and have not gotten down to cooking it. The crab meat I bought has also been sitting on my shelf for a while already. So finally decided to cook it today.

I have to say the picture looks better than it tastes. Maybe I have only myself to blame cos I actually make some changes to the ingredients. Instead of cornflour, I used tapioca flour since that's what my mum have on her pantry shelf. Not only that, recipe calls for beating the egg whites till white peaks appear (which I take it to mean stiff like in cake making). But I was lazy to take out my mixer as I reckon using my hands to beat the whites should be alright.

By the time I started whisking the egg whites, I realized manual hand whisking does not really get the job done. But damage is already done and so I have no choice but to add it to the other ingredients hoping it will still turn out fine.

I guess if I had beaten the egg whites stiff, the crabcakes will probably be puffy instead of being round flat cakes......well.....anyway, luckily folks at home like it pretty much although I think I will try this recipe with other ingredients like prawns, imitation crabsticks, onions instead of crab meat. Basically, I can't really "taste" or "feel" the crab meat inside....

Still I think its a good recipe except it calls for some hard work.......don't be lazy to use your mixer.... *lol*

Tempura Crab Cakes
Ingredients
makes about 10 -12
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cornflour
170g can crab meat, drained and set aside
3/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup chopped coriander
Spring onions, chopped
2 red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 egg whites
oil for deep frying

Chilli Lemon Mayonnaise
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tblsp chopped coriander
1 chilli, seeded and chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
lemon rind

Method
1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Add in water to a smooth blend.
2. Lightly mix in crab meat, coriander, chilli and spring onions.
3. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form. Fold into crab meat mixture.
4. Heat oil in a large wok/saucepan/deepfryer.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of crab mixture to the oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and cooked through. Drain on kitchen towels. Continue with remaining mixture.
6. Combine all the ingredients for the chilli mayonnaise in a small bowl. Serve as dipping sauce with tempura crab cakes garnished with lemon slice and coriander.

Bento 23 November 07

2007-11-22T23:27:00.001+08:00

My second bento for this month! Onigiris with furikake is the "main course" for this bento. Side dish includes blanched cauliflower, carrots, cherry tomatoes and the star of this bento - chicken egg roll!! Saw the recipe from a bento cook book I purchased some time ago and was keen to give it a try cos it looks fantastic inside any bento lunch box. :p

Ingredients are generally easy to prepare but the tricky part is the rolling of the minced chicken and scrambled eggs around the long beans and carrot sticks. I actually did not manage to do it on my first attempt and I have to do it again the second round before I was successful. Even then, I think it was not as well done and I would have to do a better job again the next round.

Chicken Egg rolls (makes 1 roll about 7 -8 pieces)
Ingredients
50g minced chicken
2 tblsp beaten egg
2 tblsp breadcrumbs
1/4 onion, diced finely
A pinch of salt

2 eggs, beaten
Long beans, cut into small long sections
Carrots, cut into sticks

Method
1. Mixed minced chicken, 2 tblsp egg, breadcrumbs, onions and salt together in a bowl. Set aside for use later.
2. Scramble the eggs in a pan till they are firm but not dry. Remove from heat.
3. Place a piece of aluminium foil over sushi mat. Oil it slightly.
4. Spread the minced chicken mixture over the aluminium foil followed by scrambled eggs.
5. Place the long beans and carrot sticks in the middle.
6. Roll the chicken egg roll the same way as sushi.
7. Steam the roll for about 7 -8 mins. Cut into 7 -8 pieces before packing into bento box.

Mini Donuts

2007-11-17T20:46:00.001+08:00

Donuts craze has come to Singapore and it is not uncommon to see long queues forming at donut outlets at any time of the day or any day of the week. Rather than queuing up to an hour for donuts at these chains, I decided to make my own this weekend. After all, I like to cook and bake and it is an opportunity to have fun along the way.

I have already decided to make other varieties besides the normal glazed donuts (those with icing sugar on them). So I went to the store to buy the ingredients for the donuts topping and before I know, I have chopped peanuts, sliced almonds, strawberry shavings, baking chocolate, coloured rice, frosting, icing sugar..........I am quite sure I will definitely eat more than one since it's very likely I would try all the different variety to have a feel of how each of them taste. So to make sure that I don't "over" eat, I decided to make small mini donuts. This way, I can have more than one at one go without having to feel too guilty. :p

The donuts were pretty easy to make, from the kneading, the shaping using the donut cutter, the proofing and the frying part. The hard or the tedious part is actually the "decoration" of the mini donuts. Being mini, they are actually quite a handful to handle especially frosting and adding the toppings on them. Maybe I have clumsy fingers which explains why I find this decorating part difficult. *lol* But the biggest surprise of the day is that my dad is also very enthusiatic about the donut making! Wow, I have to say I am very surprised cos my dad seldom give me a second look when I am baking or cooking at home. So I was quite surprised when he offer to fry the donuts and volunteer to help decorating them.......and guess what? Both of us have lots of fun doing it.

Took me about 3 hours, from preparation, waiting for the donuts to raise, frying and decorating them. The eating takes a shorter time......hahaha.....generally, old folks at home like the traditional glaze donuts, say it's less sweet while young kids like the donuts with chocolate toppings and strawberry shavings.....definitely will make these donuts again!

Black Pepper Chicken Bento 161107

2007-11-16T13:43:00.001+08:00

Hooray! Finally got down to cooking and packing my first bento after "hanging" up my pots and pans for weeks. Hahaha. Since I have not been cooking for ages, I thought I had better stick with a simple bento. Black pepper chicken stir fried with green pepper is a breeze to prepare with ready mix black pepper sauce. I am a big fan of those ready to use sauces as they are such a great help in coming out with nice and decent looking meals without having to spend too much time preparing the ingredients from scratch. However, I am always conscious not to use too much or too often because of the high salt content in most of these sauces. In any case, this is a good sauce and the green pepper really enhance the taste of the black pepper. I will definitely do more of this..........:)

Black Pepper Chicken Stir Fry with Green Pepper
Ingredients
1 pc chicken breast (you can use other chicken parts) cut into cubes
Half a green pepper cut into cubes
1 tblsp black pepper sauce (I use NTUC brand)
1 tblsp water
Cooking oil

Method
1. Heat oil in non-stick pan.
2. Stir fry green pepper and chicken until chicken is almost cooked.
3. Add black pepper sauce and water and continue to stir fry till sauce starts to boil.
4. Remove from heat and serve hot over a plate of white rice.

Ham Pasta Salad

2007-11-14T22:11:00.001+08:00

I have not been cooking for the past few weeks. Finally decided to cook something simple for tomorrow so that I don't have to get out of office in the wet weather just to get lunch. It has been raining almost everyday and it can be quite a hassle to go out into the wet. As I don't have much ingredients at home, the simplest thing I can think of is to cook pasta. I have always been a fan of pasta salad and so here it is.

Ham Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pasta of your choice (I use spiral pasta)
Ham, cut into cubes (I use Gourmet brand Chix n Ham roll)
Green pepper, cut into cubes
Cherry or honey tomatoes
2 tblsp mayonnaise
1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tblsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp mustard

Method
1. Boil pasta till al dente.
2. Drain and run under tap water. Set aside for use later.
3. In a big bowl, mix mayo, olive oil, vinegar, mustard together.
4. Add ham, pepper and cherry/honey tomatoes to cooked pasta.
5. Toast them together with the sauce in step 3.
6. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving or eating.

Sushi for Lunch

2007-11-04T14:41:00.001+08:00

My niece wanted to eat "sushi with the egg on top" and requested that I made them for her this weekend. As I have a craving for sushi myself, decided to make a few other varieties for lunch today. I made tamago nigiri sushi (sushi with egg on top), inari sushi (rice in a tofu puff pouch) and jumbo sushi roll. I used "sweetened" tofu puff purchased from Cold Storage (Misuzu brand - in the frozen food section). It is pre-cooked and sealed in 2 individual packet of 8 inari pouches. I just need to defroze them and it definitely saves me a lot of time compared to if I had to cook them from scratch. And they have a sweetness to it which goes well with the vinegar rice and toppings you added. In case you are wondering why my tamago sushi looks weird, they do not have seaweed around them cos my niece don't like seaweed and so they are bare of weed.....*LOL* Making the tamago is a bit tricky though. Control of the heat is crucial to ensure your eggs don't burnt and yet not too wet for you to fold it up. Lunch in a box has a very good illustration on how to make the egg omelet(www.lunchinabox.net).

Inari Sushi

Ingredients
Cooked sushi rice
8 Inari tofu pocket
Canned tuna flakes (drained and mixed with mayonnaise)
3-4 imitation crabsticks (boiled and shredded then mixed with mayonnaise)
Slices of cucumber

Method:
1. Fill the tofu pouches with sufficient cooked sushi rice (about 2/3 full). Use a metal spoon to press the rice down slightly so that they do not drop off so easily when you bite into them.
2. Top with tuna mayo or crabstick mayo.
3. Add slices of cucumber on the side of the tofu pouches.

Jumbo Sushi Roll

Ingredients
Cooked sushi rice
Seaweed
Tuna mayo
Boiled imitation crabstick (sliced each crabstick into 4 long sticks)
Tamago (sliced into long sticks)

Method
1. Place seaweed (shiny side down) on bamboo sushi mat.
2. Spread sushi rice on the seaweed leaving about 1cm at the front and 2 cm at the end of the seaweed uncovered.
3. Arrange crabstick, tamago and tuna near the edge of the seaweed.
4. Place your thumb under the bamboo mat while holding the ingredients in with your second and third finger, start to roll the sushi tightly.
5. Unroll the mat and cut the roll into 8 pieces. Wet the knife between each cut.

Tamago Eggs
(makes 2 tamago egg rolls)
Ingredients
4 eggs
3 tbsp of dashi stock
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Method
1. In a bowl, crack the eggs and mix all the seasoning into the bowl. Stir gently.
2. Grease a rectangle omelet pan with oil (I used kitchen paper folded into a small square and dipped it into oil for greasing the pan).
3. Heat up the pan under medium flame. When it gets hot, pour half a ladleful of the egg mixture in, tilting the pan to ensure the egg mixture spread from corner to corner.
4. When the egg is set (slightly wet on the surface), fold the egg towards you to make a 3-fold egg omelet.
5. Rub the surface of the pan with the oiled kitchen paper. Slide the omelet to the far end of the rectangle pan and oil the other end as well.
6. Pour another ladle of the egg mixture, lifting the egg roll made in step 4 to ensure the egg mixture gets underneath the egg roll. Roll the egg omelet towards you when it is set. Repeat until all the egg mixture is used up.
7. Take out from pan and slice into thick slices

Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins

2007-11-03T22:47:00.001+08:00

I was browsing through my stack of cookbooks and recipe books when I stumble across my old Home Economics textbook which I used way back in my secondary school days. As I flip through the book, i came across a muffin recipe which I used to like when it was taught during one of my lessons. Memories of the muffins we used to bake came back and I decide to "revive" the recipe. *LOL* The original recipe calls for raisins. I added cranberry in one batch and chocolate chips in another and they taste just as good. Folks at home like it cos it is just the right consistency, not too moist or dry and most importantly it is not too sweet.

Cranberry/Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes about 10-11 muffins)

Ingredients
200g plain flour
150g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
150g butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g sweetened dried cranberry/100g chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk to mix

Method
1. Sift flour and baking powder.
2. Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer till light and fluffy.
3. Add in beaten egg gradually and continue to cream.
4. Fold in the flour n cranberry (or chocolate chips if baking the chocolate chip muffins) using a metal spoon.
5. Add sufficient milk to form a soft dropping consistency.
6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full with the batter and bake on 200C oven for 15mins.
7. Cool baked muffins on trays and stored them in air tight containers.

Tofu Chicken Rice Burger

2007-10-31T16:06:00.001+08:00

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I was browsing through the various food blogs the other day and came across the Prawn Cutlet Rice Burger recipe on wokkingmum's blog (http:wokkingmum.blogspot.com). I have always been a fan of MOS rice burger (Kakiage Rice Burger my favourite) and wokkingmum really convince me that it is actually "do-able" in your own kitchen. :p

I make some changes to the recipe though.....I make a tofu chicken patty instead and I used short-grain rice as they tend to be more sticky than normal white rice so it is actually much easier to do up the round rice patties. I also brushed the rice patties with soy sauce on both sides before I pan fried them in the saucepan. The rice patties turned out slightly crunchy and the soy sauce give the rice patties a more flavourful taste as well.

Tofu Chicken Rice Burger

Ingredients for Chicken Tofu
25g carrot, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
140g minced chicken
200g tofu (coarser, solid tofu to be used)
½ egg, beaten
1 tblsp breadcrumbs
1 tblsp plain flour
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tblsp vegetable oil

Method
1. Finely chop the carrot and spring onions. Can use a blender if prefer a smoother paste.
2. Add chicken, tofu, egg, breadcrumbs, flour, salt, pepper and mix/blend till well mixed.
3. Divide mixture into 4 portions and shape into round patties (I used a 7-8cm round cookie cutter to help me shape them more nicely).
4. Heat oil in saucepan and pan fry over low heat for 8 minutes until each side is browned.

Ingredients for Rice Patties

Uncooked Short-grained rice - 2 cups
Water
Soy sauce

Method
1. Cook the short-grained rice the usual manner for normal rice.
2. Once cooked, divide them into 8 equal portions.
3. Place the round cookie cutter on a wet chopping board. Scoop enough rice into the cookie cutter and press down using a metal spoon.
4. Remove cookie cutter and reshape further using wet hands.
5. Brush on soy sauce and place the rice patty on a flat frying pan over low heat until slightly crispy on both sides.
6. Place chicken tofu patty in between 2 rice patties with lettuce, sliced tomato, mayonnaise and chilli sauce. Serve hot.

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

2007-10-22T16:48:00.001+08:00

Had a batch of chicken wings in the fridge and thought why not cook them and so this recipe is born.....:)

Ingredients
10 Chicken wings and drumsticks (depending on your preference for which chicken parts)
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
Salt n pepper
3 tablespoon teriyaki sauce (I used Masukan brand which can be found under Japanese food section in NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage supermarkets)
1 tablespoon water
Cooking oil

Method
1. Season the chicken wings and drumsticks with soy sauce, salt and pepper for at least half an hour (they taste better if left-over night).
2. Heat up oil in a non-stick pan.
3. Using low to medium flame, pan fry the chicken wings and drumsticks on both sides till they are crispy on the outside. Remove from the pan.
4. Mix the teriyaki sauce and water and heat them up in the pan.
5. When the sauce starts to boil, add the cooked chicken wings and drumsticks. Make sure all are well coated with the teriyaki sauce.
6. Serve with plain rice.

This is really simple to cook and one of my favourite. Be sure to cook the chicken wings till they are slightly crispy as it helps to "force" out the fats under the chicken skin and make the skin more "edible".

Afternoon Tea at Blue Magnolia

2007-10-19T14:52:00.000+08:00

I was watching a tv programme (HDB Tai tai) some time ago and the 2 "made believe" tai-tais in the programme went for afternoon tea at this little cafe located in Macpherson Road. My office is located in the same area but I have never notice this cafe till I saw it on tv. The food they featured looks really nice and I decided to make a trip down to the cafe to see and taste the food for myself.

The opportunity finally came early this week. I went down with a friend and it was pretty quiet when we get there around 430pm. Unfortunately, there is not much food items left at that time and the crepes which I saw on tv was not on sale at that time. :( Luckily, the cafe's famous Adzuki Green Tea Cake is still available. We ordered 3 other small cakes and together they made up the "Petite Four".

I ordered an infusion tea called Nightcap (a combination of peppermint & camomile tea) which comes in a nice clear teapot and is constantly kept warm by a tealight candle.
My friend had the Creamy Hazelnut Coffee instead. Among the 4 items we ordered, my favourite is the Cheesecake. The savoury Cheese Puff (next to the cheesecake) is unique but not fantastic.

The Adzuki Green Tea Cake is a letdown as I could hardly smell the green tea and I personally feel that the cake could have more of the adzuki bean inside the cake. Blueberry cake is also not very special.

My friend like the Creamy Hazelnut Coffee though. I guess I would not mind buying the cheesecake although I will give the 3 other items a miss. Although the food had not been as nice as I would have expected, I like the way the food is presented - in small little dish in a very manageable portions which allows you to try many different items without getting too stretched (the tummy i mean). Service is pretty good too. So I think I will still make another trip down for the crepes which I missed out this round. For those who are interested in visiting the cafe, here is the address.

Blue Magnolia

439 Macpherson Road.

I will make another post here after my next visit.

Bento Lunch Box 17 Oct 07

2007-10-16T22:44:00.001+08:00

Chicken Teriyaki with xiaobaicai and Sweet Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms

After weeks of travelling on the job and falling sick after the trip, I am finally up and running again (Actually still have a slight flu and cough :p) My first "project" after many weeks of not cooking is to attempt to put together a japanese bento box based on a latest cook book I bought.

I have always been fascinated with how the japanese managed to pack such a comprehensive lunch box with a good mix of protein and carbo plus all the nice mix of colours in the lunch box. So when I heard about this cook book called Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go, I just could not resist not buying it. It was highly recommended by bento fans and being a bento die hard fan myself, it seems logical I should have a copy too. :)

This book really has a lot of traditional japanese recipes which is very suitable for packing into daily lunch box. I will definitely be trying the recipes in the book in the days to come. For now, enjoy this dish.

Ingredients

Chicken Teriyaki
1 piece of boneless chicken with skin on
1 tbsp each mirin and soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cooking oil

Xiaobaicai or any other green leafy vegetable of your preference

Sweet Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms
4 -5 dried shiitake mushrooms (soak in cold water for 1 hour and stems removed)
1 and 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp each of mirin, sake, sugar

Method

Marinate chicken in mirin, soy sauce, sugar and oil for 30 minutes. Drain the marinade reserving it for later use.

Pan fry chicken on both sides till brown.

Add 3 tbsp of water to reserved marinade and pour over the chicken. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked.

Turn up fire and reduce the sauce to a glaze. Remove and slice chicken.

Blanch the xiao bai cai in salted water. Drain and remove. Layer the vegetable over white rice and top with sliced chicken teriyaki.

Put shiitake in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and add all other ingredients.

Continue to simmer until liquid is almost completely absorbed. So for a start, you should not add too much water. Just enough to cover the shiitake.

Cut the shiitake to pieces/slices and pack them into the bento box.

This is how my completed bento box look like:

I used chicken breast without skin (less fatty) but for those who prefer more tender chicken, you can consider using chicken thigh with skin. As for the shiitake, remember not to add too much water as it will take a while to simmer to almost dry. For those who prefer sweeter taste, you can consider adding more sugar although I find the taste just alright with a slight sweet taste.

Claypot rice (Sa Bo Fan)

2007-09-07T14:24:00.001+08:00

I was doing some groceries shopping the other day in the supermarket when i walk past a row of food mixes and found myself attracted to a row of asian food mixes. As there is a promotion for every 3 packets purchased, I grabbed 3 packets which i am interested to try out. One of them is the Cantonese Claypot Rice which is also known as Sa Bo Fan.

I am a fan of instant food mixes/cake mix/bottled sauces as all of these really help to save a lot of time which would be required to prepare the spices and ingredients from scratch. In addition, I don't have to buy some many ingredients just to cook a dish which I might not want to cook again in the next few weeks and usually by the time I am ready to cook the same dish, the ingredients have usually expired. Of course, being an amateur, instant food mixes are quite idiot proof too so I get to dish out beautiful looking food in a jiffy!! Hahaha......so you see, everyone can be a good cook now that there is so many wonderful products out there in the supermarket which can help to make you into an terrific cook in a matter of minutes!

The claypot rice is really easy to cook using the food mix. In fact, I think the preparation of the ingredients take longer than the cooking time. Anyway, for those who are interested in a fast yet tasty meal, I would recommend this. Here it is:

Claypot Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:

600g cooked rice (I used 1 and a half cups of uncooked rice in the rice cooker)
2 chinese sausages, thinly sliced diagonally
Green leafy vegetables (your choice of vegetables - add more if you like more veg in your rice)
250g chicken, cut into cubes
4 -5 dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water and cut into shreds (the water can be reserved for use in cooking the rice to enhance the flavour of the claypot rice)
1 packet of claypot rice mix (I used Asian Home Gourmet brand)
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
Chopped coriander or sliced spring onions as garnish

Heat oil in a non-stick wok on medium heat. Add chicken, mushroom and sausage. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add rice, claypot rice mix and dark soy sauce. Stir fry till all the ingredients and sauces are well mixed.
Transfer it to a claypot. Cover and cook gently for 5 minutes on low heat. Garnish and serve hot.

For those who do not have a claypot at home, you can transfer it to a rice cooker and keep warm till it's ready to be served. (I kept it in a rice cooker as my family did not eat it immediately after I cooked it which helped to keep the rice moist and warm till it's serving time).

Overall, my family like the claypot rice although my mum thinks that it could be better. Hmmm.......I remember I have a recipe for a claypot rice (cooked using microwave and using ingredients from scratch) somewhere which I cooked many years back. Let me go look for it and try that recipe again. Then I would be able to compare which one is the better one.......till then, the claypot rice mix would have to do........:)

Homemade Meatballs with spaghetti in tomato sauce

2007-08-31T15:22:00.001+08:00

I was supposed to make a posting into this blog much much earlier but it turns out that my first attempt to bake and record it for this blog ran into some problems. Was preparing the ingredients for Dark Chocolate and Orange Muffins (recipe courtesy of http://ilovemilkandcookies.blogspot.com/) when I accidentally shred off half a fingernail on the fourth finger of my left hand.....waah......the pain is extreme and blood that follows is horrifying....well I will spare you guys the gross details. To cut the story short, this accident kinda of waylay my plans to cook, bake and post. :(

However, luckily my fingernail grew back faster than I expected and now I am back to cooking and baking. Bravo! Needless to say, I am happy like a lark to be able to use my left hand again. It is only during the period when I lose my fingernail that I realize how important every part of our body is. Fingernail of a fourth finger on left hand might not sound like a big major body part but I realize how everything small and big works together to ensure the efficiency usage of our fingers......Isn't it amazing that God thought of everything when He is creating us?

In any case, I am really glad to start cooking. So I started thinking long and hard what I should post for my first food blog and after much "deliberation" (actually did not take that long to decide :p), I decided to share a simple recipe which my family and friends like pretty much - homemade meatballs with spaghetti in tomato sauce. For those who loves simple spaghetti without too many ingredients, I think the meatballs will go pretty well with the spaghetti. The meatballs can be prepared in advance and kept in the freezer and de-froze in advance prior to cooking the spaghetti. This will save a lot of cooking time cos only need to cook the spaghetti and toss it into tomato sauce. I added blanched broccoli and carrots and it makes a very filling and fulfilling meal. The meatballs can also be simmered in teriyaki sauce and served over hot rice if spaghetti is not your cup of tea (more like plate of pasta!). For now, here is the recipe.

Homemade Meatballs with Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce
makes about 10 - 12 meatballs

400g minced meat (pork, chicken or beef) - I used pork
Half an egg, beaten
Half an onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce (ketchup)
Breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for pan frying meatballs
Pasta of your choice - I had spaghetti
Tomato-based Pasta sauce
Extra virgin olive oil for pasta

Mix the minced meat, egg, onions, ketchup, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper together in a big mixing bowl.
Take a tablespoon of the mixture and using your hands, mould it into a small round ball. Repeat the step till all the minced meat is used up.
Heat up some oil in a pan and place the meatballs on the pan.
Pan fried till it is brown on both sides, remove from pan. (Pan fry over medium fire to avoid burning the meatballs)
Boil water in a big pot and add the pasta when water boils. Add a pinch of salt into the boiling water.
Cook the pasta till "al dente" and wash it under running water. Drain and add extra virgin olive oil. Stir through to ensure the pasta is well coated with the olive oil. Set aside for use later.
In a pot, heat up the pasta sauce. When it boils add the meatballs. Serve hot over a plate of pasta with blanched broccoli, carrot and cherry tomatoes.

My Foray into Blogging Scene

2007-08-03T17:36:00.000+08:00

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Finally I am on the blogging scene! Well, I know I'm a bit behind time considering that online blogs are now the rage of the town but i reckon it's better to be late then never. :) Actually this is not my first blog but I thought I would like to start a blog that allows me to write and share about my fever for cooking, baking, eating and basically just about food. Moreover, I have started to develop a habit for cooking and packing lunch for work and baking over the weekend. So it appears that now is the best time for me to start my own food blog. Plus with all the numerous food blogs around, I can no longer resist the temptations to contribute in my modest way to the food blogging scene. :p

So do keep a lookout for more posting on my blog soon!