Claypot rice (Sa Bo Fan)

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

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

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!