Vegetarian Bak Kut Teh

The only reason that this is called Bak Kut Teh is that I used the herbal premix.  As I was cooking this for my brother's family who has converted to vegetarian since my mum's passing.

I seldom make vegetarian soup as always wonder how to make the soup tasty without adding any meat or onion.  And since my dad used to like BKT (he's 'half vegetarian' who doesn't consume meat these days), I decided to make something similar.

I rather call this a herbal soup as the packet contains herbs & spices like Yu Zhu(玉竹), Don Gui (当归), wolfberry, star anise (八角), liquorice (Gan Cao甘草) and clove.  I see GOODNESS!

I forgot to take photo of my soup as I was too busy serving the guests, but nonetheless like to document what I cooked for my future reference.

Vegetarian BKT/ Herbal Soup

Ingredients:
Enoki mushrooms
Fried tofu packets
Chinese cabbage
Shitake mushroom
Canned mushroom
Beancurd Sheet, abt 2 pcs, soaked and cut into small pieces
Honey Date, 1 pc (optional)

Some caramel/thick dark sauce for flavour

Method:
1. Boil a bag of BKT premix with 1.2 L of water.  Once boiled, turn down the fire and let it simmer for 45min min, or upto 2hours.  This will allow the flavour from the packet to intensify.  I transferred the boiled water and packet into the slow cooker and left it unattended for the next few hours.

2. Half hour before eating, add the all the ingredients into the pot and bring it to boil.

3. Taste - add salt, some caramel/thick soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce for flavour.  Without these, the soup can taste rather flat.

4.  Served piping hot with fried cuddle (油条, optional), green lettuce and coriander/pasley (for garnishing) .


Note:
(a) It may seem to have lots of mushrooms but it is fine to use less or just add what you like.

(b) Honey date is optional but in the absence of meat, this adds 'sweetness' to the soup.

Nasi Lemak

Looking back at the old posts, i realised that B is slowly drifting away from my kitchen adventures.  I blame it on the school.  Singapore education system is a killer.  Not becos he felt overwhelmed by the learnings, but school time is a complete time waster.  This is, to him.

If you are a parent, or working in the education industry, you might have followed the series of reports on Finland education system.  There, it teaches children life skills.  Here, it teaches children about compliance.  I can go on ranting what i like/dislike but nothing will change.  Period.

Nevermind if I seemed like a discontented mother venting out on my child's inability to cope with the local system...

Back to this post, it was a very old one but never get to finish it until this staycation weekend when I finally get to relax and visit my little space here.

I found the trick to make nice nasi lemak is the copious amount of salt and coconut milk.  In my case, I use 2 cups coconut milk + 1 cup water for 3 cup rice.  Salt is 1tbsp.  Yes this is alot, but it will not make your rice salty, I promise.  Do try and tell me what you think yah.

Jamie Oliver Chicken in Milk

Whenever I need to feed a big group of people and do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen, I go to this recipe.  It is very easy to make, the only work involves pan frying the chicken, and some cutting.  Everything else is then poured into  oven-safe casserole and bake till you are ready to serve.

Who knows that milk and chicken can give you such satisfaction.

The only thing to take note is frying the chicken.  The last time I gave my sis this recipe verbally, I told her to pan-fry till it brown.  So she skipped this step at her discretion.  It ended up her dish has a thick layer of yellow liquid floating on top.  Quizz her further than realised that's the chicken fat that should have been take off after pan-frying.

The photo was taken during my recent vacation in UK, cooking for my friend's family. The original recipe uses whole chicken but I used thigh which is relatively cheaper there!  :-)

Also, I added vegetables (whatever I can find in the fridge which happen to be carrot and fresh mushrooms) to make the meal complete.



Chicken in Milk

1.5 kg chicken parts

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

½ stick cinnamon

1 good handful fresh sage, leaves picked

zest of 2 lemons

10 cloves garlic, skin left on

565 ml milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.

2. Marinate chicken with black pepper and fry it in a little olive oil, turning the chicken to get an even colour all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the oil left in the pot. This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan which will give you a lovely caramel flavour later on.

3. Put your chicken back in the pot/casserole with the rest of the ingredients (including vege if you are using), and cook in the preheated oven for 60min. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce  which is absolutely fantastic.

Enjoy!

Braised Balsamic Chicken

I always enjoy eating my lighted toasted bread with olive oil and balsamic mix.  Each time very little balsamic is used up that a bottle will easily last me a year.  I still remember the last bottle (a very good one *sob*)I had ended in the bin cos it was more than 2 years old.  My mum used to tell me that vinegar, like salt and sugar, has an infinite shelf life but i just felt a little funny knowingly consume something so "ancient".

Anyway, now that I found this recipe shared by Wendy at Table for 2, I am sure no balsamic vinegar will ever go to waste.  Not only for the sake of consumption, this dish has a very balanced taste of sourness and sweetness making it a hit with B.

I served it with rice and some accompanying vegetables as my family must have rice. 

Just a word on cookware.  Personally, I felt that when cooking with acidic liquid like balsamic, it is best to use a non-reactive cookware such as enameled cast iron (e.g. Le Crueset) or stainless steel.  Aluminum cookware will colour acidic foods with a grey tinge while cast iron (the one with enamel coating) will have acidic food leach iron from the pot.  Though you can argue that this is one way of getting your douse of iron that your body need!

Below is my version:

Braised Balsamic Chicken
3 pieces of chicken leg (1 for each diner)
Some salt and black pepper to taste.
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp dried italian herbs
Some corn flour & water for thickening

1. Marinade the chicken with black pepper, preferably overnight.

2. Heat up a non-reactive pot, and add some olive oil.  Fry chicken leg with skin side down until it brown.  This will remove some fats.

3.  Remove excess oil, and keep about 1 tbsp to cook the onion and garlic.  It is ready when onion turned translucent.

4.  Add all the rest of the ingredients (except corn flour) and cover the pot until chicken is cooked through, about 20min.  Also check the taste, and add more salt/pepper/honey when necessary.  I used more honey.

5.  Take out the chicken and thicken sauce by adding corn flour/water mixture.  Though Wendy said this is optional, I find that thickened sauce will enable the sauce to "stick" to the chicken better.

6. Serve the chicken with steamed rice and vegetables, drizzling the thickened sauce over the chicken.

Cooking for one: vegetarian mee sua

Last Sunday was my mum's 100th day and also my dad's lunar birthday.  It must be a big bag of mixed feelings for him!

Late ma used to make Mee Sua for every one of us on our lunar birthday.  I just thought that my dad would like one too... But due to the tight schedule that day, I didn't get to serve him the mee sua soup. 

Since all the stuff were already in fridge, I made them for my work day lunch instead.

Simple stuff like tow gey, choy sim, hard boiled egg (it may look like fishball, but its egg) and mock mini sausages served with mee sua, but to me, this is the taste of our family tradition.

What's your family tradition?

 

Cooking with Chef Veronica - Porcini Risotto

Following ma's passing, we observed her religious practice to abstain from meat & alcohol. 

 

I took this vegetarian class with Chef Veronica Cherry from Food-to-Serve to add new item to my repertoire.  Chef V is a very patient and helpful instructor who has loads of tips for us... I enjoyed her class very much.

 

Porcini Risotto is a very yummy Italian mushroom rice, and best part, it is vegetarian!  After you learn how to cook this, you no long willing to pay so much for the simple dish in those fancy restaurants.

 



 

What you will need:

300g       Arborio rice                       

500ml    Vegetable Stock (must be hot at all time)
3 tbsp    Olive oil                               
2              Shallots                               
60-80g   Porcini mushroom (Soak 30minutes before use), Keep the soaking water
2 tbsp    Freshly grated parmesan cheese                                             
30g         Butter                   Cube, keep cold
1 tbsp    Fresh herbs (Parsley, chives, chervil)
Salt & Pepper to taste.

 

How to do it:

1) Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a deep sauté pan and add the shallot to fry for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Stir in the rice and to coat with oil.  Allow the rice to cook for 1-2 minutes.

2) Add 1-2 ladles of stock to rice. Stir the rice and allow the rice to absorb the stock.   Add the porcini mushroom into the risotto. Cook the rice for 1-2 minute and add the soaking water to the risotto for extra flavour.

It is important not to add too much stock to the risotto. Only add the stock a ladleful at a time, allowing each addition of stock to be absorbed before adding another ladle.

3) When the risotto is al dente (firm to the bite), remove the pan from the heat. Add cold butter a few cubes at a time; stir to mix the butter into the risotto. The risotto should be moist and creamy at this stage.  Add in some grated parmesan cheese into the creamy risotto. Season the risotto with salt and pepper.

4) Garnish with fresh herb and grate some more parmesan cheese if desire. Serve immediately.



Tips: 

Adding cold butter to the rice allows the proper emulsifying...  otherwise you may end up with oily rice.

Chicken Balti

Balti is actually the name of the cooking pot and serving dish. It is pretty much a British-style type of curry, meaning it is not spicy at all. Living out of a service apartment, I have the provided-Ikea pot as a substitute.


Instead of gathering all the spices, I used the ready-to-use Balti sauce that I picked up from my favourite supermarket (for only £1). It tastes pretty yummy with a right blend of sourness and slight spice! It is a very appetising dish.

I used chicken wing for the dish but any other meat like lamb or chicken breast works as fine - wing is cheaper, that's all. In my case, it costs about £3 to whip up a hearty and satisfying meal.






Chicken Balti
Feeds 2

Ingredients:
8 chicken wings
1 large lime
2 tbsp plain yogurt
sesame oil
1 large yellow onions, chopped


1 night in advance:
Marinate the chicken in the lime zest and juice and yogurt overnight.


To cook:

1. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or pot and fry the onions until turn translucent.
2. Toss in the marinated meat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over a moderate heat until cooked through.
3. Pour in the jar of balti sauce.
4. Perfect with naan bread, or basmatic rice.

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Ginger Chicken (炒姜鸡)

If you have came to London before you know exactly how costly it is to eat out. However, it is fairly cheap if you can cook your own meals as there's an array of items that you can get cheaply from the supermarket.

Chicken wing is one of those good value; last week when I shopped at Sainsburys - i was surprised to see that the fresh (not frozen) chicken wing goes for just £1.70/kg. By comparison, the chicken breast is exorbitantly priced at £14/kg. I asked around, and found that the British does not like anything that has bone, never mind which taste better. Haha, that explained why even the KFC here has boneless chicken in their menu.


One man's poison is another man's meat, so i gladly buy what the brit doesn't want. The first thing came to mind as I was in the aisle was to cook Mary's Chicken and Ginger Stir-fry which i read from her blog recently.

It reminds me of my mum's 姜葱鸡(chicken with spring onion and ginger). Since the spring onion is quite ex (well, for that matter, all asian veg cost a bomb here), i skipped that, and just make do with the ginger. It is also costly but I reasoned that since it can be kept for at least a week or 2, it makes sense to buy ginger instead of spring onion if i can only choose 1.

The below here is what I did but i believe each of us have our own version.

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The portion below feeds 2

Ingredients

8 pc chicken wings
1 yellow onion chopped
10 slices ginger, shredded
cooking oil

Marinade
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine (or XO/brandy)

Method
1. Stir fry ginger and onions in 2 tbsp of hot oil till fragrant.
2. Add in chicken pieces and fry for about two minutes.
3. Add in the rest of the marindae + 1 cup of water and let it boil for a while.
4. Cover and turn down fire and let it simmer for about 30min or till gravy thickens. Add salt to taste.
5. Serve hot with white rice and enjoy.

Steam Savoury Yam Cake

This is the first time I tried to make this yam cake using the old grandmother's method - "guesstimates". I didn't weigh any of the igredients, just plain "agatation". The recipe with proper measurement is here .



I soaked the dried scallops in XO for few hours but hubby said the alcohol taste is too strong. *tsk* Personally I like the aroma but if it does not appeal to you, just reduce or omit lor :-)))



Mum likes it very much. Mother-in-law complained too bland. Hubby said better without the XO. Haiz, can't please everyone!

Healthy Yee-Mee

The 2 "men" in my family, aka daddy and baby, are sucker for asian food. Not so usual for the 4-yr old as I thought, thanks to the ingenious marketing, they would be more attracted to the western or fast food just like my nieces, nephews and colleagues kids!

He loves hawker food like zichar, fried hokkien prawn noodle and chay kway tiao... mostly the unhealthy stuff. As the saying go, if you can't beat them, join them. Whenever possible I will cook my own healthier hawker food like this one.

I let Bevis help with cooking and ended up with broken noodles!

This is surprisingly easy to cook, and yummy!

I bought the yi-mee from supermarket. It comes in a 340g pack, enough to feed 6.

I just add things that Sheen eats, fish cake, carrot, scallops and xiao bao chai. It is more like a braise method without any oil, hence I think it is healthier.

I brought this to my mum's place over weekend, and my sis said it is as tasty as those from the zichar stall!

The thing about this is everything is up to you. As you boil the stock, taste and add seasoning as appropriate. Stop when it taste good enough for you.

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Healthy Yee Mee

Ingredients:

• Fish cake, sliced
• Carrot, sliced
• Scallops
• Xiao Bao Chai, sectioned
• Chicken Stock (or Water) - 1 cup

Seasoning:

• Oyster sauce
• Dark sauce

1. Bring the stock (or water) to boil.
2. Add all the ingredients into the stock and cover pot until boil.
3. Add oyster sauce & dark sauce to taste.
4. Add yee-mee into the stock, boil for 3 min, then off the fire. The noodle will absorb flavourful the stock and becomes soft and tasty.

You notice that there's no xiao bao chai leaves in the dish? All the leaves are reserved for our bunny. Sometimes the pet does get the icing topping on the cake!

Yam-Seng

Yam is quite good stuff - it gives you a good dose of vitamin B6 to protection against heart Disease, potassium to help control blood pressure, Dioscorin, a storage protein contained in yam, to help with hypertension.

On the more practical front, Yams' complex carbohydrates and fiber deliver the goods gradually, slowing the rate at which their sugars are released and absorbed into the bloodstream. In addition, because they're rich in fiber, yams fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline.

Choose yams that are firm and do not have any cracks, bruises or soft spots. Yams should be stored in a cool, dark and well-ventilated place where they will keep fresh for up to ten days. They should be stored loose and not kept in a plastic bag. Keep them out of exposure to sunlight since this will cause them to sprout or ferment. Uncooked yams should not be kept in the refrigerator.

Recently I saw Thai Yam sold in the supermarket - it is vacuum-packed and ready-to-use. Very convenient! I picked up 1 pack and got down to make this Steamed Yam Cake for our Saturday breakfast:

This is basically the same pumpkin cake recipe.

Savoury Steamed Yam Cake

RECIPE:
500gm yam
200g rice flour
700ml chicken stock (or water)

80g dried shrimp, rinsed and coarsely chopped
5 chinese mushroom, soaked and diced
1 dried scallop, soaked and shredded

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce


Method:

1. Steam the yam for 15min or until it is soft enough to be mashed with a fork. Leave some yam chunk around for texture.


2. Mix with 100ml of stock and set aside.


3. Mix rice flour, stock, salt and sesame oil together and set aside.


4. Heat up the veg oil in hot wok. Stir fry dried shrimps until fragrant. Set aside


5. Stir fry diced mushroom for 2-3min. Add pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well.


6. Pour in the mashed pumpkin & rice flour mixture. Cook over slow fire until it thickens.
   Pour into a mould and level with a spoon. Steam for 30min or till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the mould.


7. Garnish with sliced chili, spring onion and sesame seed. Serve hot.

For the leftovers, sliced and refrigerate or freeze (if intend to keep for longer). When hunger strikes, just take out of the fridge and pan fried! Food always taste better after frying :-)

Glutinous Chicken Rice (Loh Mai Kai)

My family likes Loh Mai Kai very much... and my hubby always ta-pak (doggie-bag) from the nearby foodcourt for $1.50 each.

I picked up some chicken fillets from NTUC this morning and decided to try to make some Loh Mai Kai. Beside the economics, home made is also a healthier choice as we use less oil and salt.

The recipe I used today is contributed by Gina @Kitchen Capers.


Savoury Glutinous Rice I (Loh Mai Kai)
Serves 2 persons

Ingredients
1 cup of glutinous rice
1 pc of boneless chicken thigh with skin(diced)
4 pcs preserved chinese mushrooms(soften in water, cut into quarters)
3 tbsp onion oil (or corn oil)

seasoning to be mixed together :
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
120 ml water

Method
1. Soak rice in tap water for at least 4 hours. Wash and drain, set aside.
2. Heat up wok with onion oil and add mushrooms to fry.
3. Add chicken and seasonings to fry over high heat for 1 min.
4. Remove mushroom and semi cooked chicken leaving the sauce behind.
5. Add rice and fry till the sauce dries up.
6. Arrange chicken and mushrooms on a small bowl, piled up with rice.
7. Spray the top of the rice with water
8. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 5 mins.
9. Over turn bowl on a plate and serve warm.

Notes on steaming using wok or steamer
1. Steam over high heat for 25 mins.

Glutinous Rice

T0day is Racial Harmony Day. Bevis' school is holding a small celebration and kids are asked to bring traditional food to the share.

I decided to make the glutinous rice as this is what we have for our festive; birthdays, baby shower etc. I am not sure if this is common for all the dialect groups, but certainly a MUST for Hockchias :-)

The glutinous rice is usually served in a big plate... which means that the kids will need forks and plate. To make it more convenient for everyone to handle the rice, I decided to fill the rice into a small individual plastic bags.


See, no mess... so convenient! :-)


Mushroom: Seasoning the mushroom improves its taste. Once the mushroom is softened after soaking, squeeze out the water from the mushroom. Sprinkle some sugar on the underside (white portion) and rub it in. Leave for 10 min before dicing them.

Sausage: In my opinion, sausage, together with dried shrimp, are the key ingredients of the glutinous rice. Sausage's sweetness and saltiness of dried shrimp complement well to create the wonderful flavour!

Dried shrimps: To give it the extra oomph, I normally soaked the shrimps in some brandy after washing. It will taste like XO sauce :-).

BTW, you may need to microwave the shrimp first to dry it before frying. Otherwise the water in it will cos the oil to splatter.

Steam or Fried: There's 2 ways to cook this dish - steaming give you softer rice, and frying makes it less starchy. The choice is yours - depends on what you like.

Unlike baking, the measurements here can be taken as a guide. Feel free to add more or reduce to suit your tastebud!


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Glutinous Rice

Ingredients:
3 cups glutinous rice, rinsed and soaked overnight or at least 3 hours
1/2 cup dried shrimps, soaked
8 dried chinese mushroom, soaked and diced.
1 pair of chinese sausage, sliced (I left it out for this occasion cos the school is halal)
2~3 cups of water or stock


Seasoning:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce (I use vegetarian oyster sauce)
1 tbsp Sesame seed oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp chinese wine
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp salt

Garnishing:
spring onion
fried shallots

1. Heat up veg oil in a wok. Stir fry dried shrimp until fragrant. Take out of the wok and set aside.


2. Brown the chinese sausage. No need oil as the sausage itself already has fat. Take out of the wok and set aside.


3. Sauteed the mushrooms in sesame seed oil. Add sugar, five spice powder, soya sauce and oyster sauce. Sauteed for few more minutes before adding 1 cup of water.


4. When the water starts to steam, add rice to wok. Stir to ensure it does not get burnt. Add more water as required.


5. Add sausage and dried shrimps. Continue to stir fry until the water has dried up.


6. If you are steaming the rice, you can pour the rice into a steamer now. Steam for 30min.


7. If you are stir-frying the rice, continue to add more water as required. Fry until the rice is fully cooked.


8. Garnish and serve!

Savoury Pumpkin Cake

The western pumpkin recipe is often high sugar, high caloric food - super unhealthy. Hence I prefer to cook pumpkin our Asian style... You know, pumpkins are 90% water, and they are low in fat, low in calories, loaded with vitamins.

It is a high source of Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene (an anti-oxidant). Research has shown that beta-carotene-rich foods help lower the incidence of some cancers. Vitamin A also plays a role in good vision, healthy skin, a strong immune system, and bone and teeth development.

Pumpkin is also a good source of Vitamin C which helps to fight infection. Vitamin C is a water soluble nutrient which needs to be replenished in the body, daily.

Pumpkin is high in dietary fiber, which is often lacking in most diets. Fiber is important for proper digestion and elimination. Pumpkin contains about 40 calories per 1 cup serving. I consider it a wholesome health food!
This is site http://nat.crgq.com/ to read up more on the nutrition value of pumpkin.

Unlike carrot cake and yam cake which are easily available in the market, pumpkin cakes are less common in our marketplace. So why not make your own?


RECIPE:


200g rice flour

700ml chicken stock (or water)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame oil

1.5 tbsp vegetable oil

80g dried shrimp, rinsed and coarsely chopped

5 chinese mushroom, soaked and diced

350gm pumpkin

1 tsp white pepper powder

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Method:

1. Baked the pumpkin for 15min or until it is soft enough to be mashed with a fork.


2. Mix with 100ml of stock and set aside.


3. Mix rice flour, stock, salt and sesame oil together and set aside.


4. Heat up the veg oil in hot wok. Stir fry dried shrimps until fragrant. Add diced mushroom, stir fry for 2-3min.


5. Add pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well.


6. Pour in the mashed pumpkin & rice flour mixture. Cook over slow fire until it thickens.


7. Pour into a mould and level with a spoon. Steam for 30min or till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the mould.


8. Garnish with sliced chili, spring onion and sesame seed. Serve hot.

This recipe freeze well. You can make extra and freeze the rest. When hungry, just steam again for 5 min before serving.

Or you can fill it into individual disposable mould (pix 1) - it makes a simple breakfast pack!