Sweet and sour fish 🐟

Yummy sweet and sour fish! Good for lunch and dinner! 😋

Replaced Pork cubes with sliced fish for those who doesn’t like pork.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of deboned fish fillets (refer to recipe for home-made fish nuggets ) 
• 1 yellow capsicum, sliced into wedges 
• 1 red capsicum, sliced into wedges 
• 1 yellow onion, sliced into wedges 
• 1 Japanese cucumber, cut into pieces 

** Recipe for home-made fish nuggets:
https://miniscooking.blogspot.com/2018/08/homemade-fish-nuggets.html?m=1

Sweet and sour sauce:

• 1 tbsp plum sauce
• 3 tbsp Tomato sauce (ketchup)
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 oyster sauce
• 100ml of water
• 2 tbsps of Corn flour water 

Method:

1. Prepared fish nuggets.
2. Prepare sauce in bowl.
3. Heat work with 1 tbsp oil. Stir fry onion for a minute, add capsicum, cucumber or other sides. Sauté till fragrant. Pour in prepared sauce and bring to a boil. Add a little cornflour water to thicken the mixture. Add deep fried fish fillets and mix well. Dish up and serve hot. 

Note:

• For busy mummies or daddies, you can purchase store-bought fish nuggets instead of making your own. Deepfry or airfry then till crisp. Then cook sauce and coat with nuggets! 
• You can have different variations to the sides, for e.g. tomatoes and pineapple etc. 
• You can double fry the fillets to ensure it’s stays crisp. 

(Fast & quick) Chicken Baked Rice

{Collaboration: Xndo Zero Rice} 
This is one of my girl’s favorite dish! With Xndo Zero rice, it becomes easier to prepare this dish! Just cooked sauce, mixed with rice, topped with cheese and baked! ✌️ With ah girl in her teens and getting more concerned with her weight, she can enjoy this more with Xndo zero rice!

Xndo Zero rice is certified low GI, non-GMO, high fibre and suitable even for diabetics! Ready to eat, a healthy diet has never been easier! BUY 1 FREE 1 promo now on at all GNC Singapore & Xndo stores islandwide.
#ZeroRice #XndoRecipes

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of Xndo Zero rice 
• 1/2 cup boneless chicken thigh/breasts
• 2 tbsps frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp diced yellow onion
• 1/2 packet cooking cream
• 3 tbsps chicken stock 
• Salt and black pepper to taste 
• Grated mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup or more depending on how cheesy you like) 

Method: 

1. Diced chicken thigh/breasts. Marinated with a pinch of salt and dash of white pepper for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare other ingredients. 
2. Heat up pan with 2 tbsp butter. Add diced onion and minced garlic  sauté till fragrant. 
3. Add in marinated chicken. Stirfry till no longer pink. 
4. Add in mixed vegetables and mix well. 
5. Add in cooking cream and mix well. 
6. Add in chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. 
7. Season with salt and pepper. 
8. Off heat when mixture turns slightly thickened. 
9. Empty a packet of Zero rice into an oven proof baking dish. 
10. Pour the prepared mixture over rice and mix well. 
11. Top with mozzarella cheese. 
12. Bake in pre-heated oven at 200 deg, till cheese melts and golden brown. Serve immediately. 

Sesame Chicken Rice (rice cooker version)

Ingredients: 

• 5 pieces of chicken wings (sliced to separate drums and wings) 
• 4 pieces of dry mushrooms (washed and soaked to rehydrate) 
• 6 red onions (sliced) 
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced) 
• 5 slices of ginger 
• 2 cups of jasmine rice 
• 3 tbsps of sesame oil 
• 2 tbsps of shallot oil 
• 3 tbsps of fried shallots (optional) 
• 2 tbsps of chopped spring onion (optional)

Seasonings: 

• 2 tbsp light soya sauce 
• 2 tbsp dark soya sauce 
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine 
• 1 tsp oyster sauce. 
• A dash of pepper 
• A dash of fish sauce 

Method: 

1. Rubbed some salt onto chicken wings to remove smell and dirt. Rinsed off. Marinate with 2 tbsps of light soya sauce, 1 tbsp of ginger juice, 1 tbsp oyster sauce and a dash of pepper. Set aside for an hour. 
2. Lightly squeeze water out from mushrooms and sliced into half. Set aside. 
3. Heat wok with sesame oil. Sauté sliced onions, garlic and ginger till fragrant. 
4. Add mushrooms and Stirfry for a minute. 
5. Add marinated chicken wings and fry till chicken are no longer pink. 
6. Add seasonings. Mix well and off heat. 
7. Washed rice and placed in rice cooker. Add mushrooms water and top up with more water for rice. Add shallot oil and a tsp of salt and mix well with rice. Start rice cooker. 
8. When the water in the rice cooker is reduced, add the chicken mixture onto the rice and closed rice cooker to continue to cook. 
9. Set rice cooker to warm mode when rice is cooked. Leave it for about ten mins. 
10. Heat up about 1tbsp of sesame oil and drizzle on top rice. Mix rice and chicken well and serve hot. Garnish with some fried shallots and chopped spring onion. 

Stirfry Udon

Ingredients: 

• 2 packets of Udon, remove from packaging, add hot water to rinse Udon and drained 
• 4-5 pieces wongbok long cabbage, sliced 1/2 carrot , julienned 
• 1 boneless chicken leg, cut into strips, marinated with light soya sauce, sesame oil, ginger juice and oyster sauce 
• 1 yellow onion , sliced 
• 3 stalks of spring onion, cut into sections (for garnishing) 

Method: 

• Heat wok with a tbsp of oil. Stirfry chicken it’s no longer pink. Remove and set aside. 
• Add another 2 tbsp of oil in wok. Add onions and sauté for a minute. Add stem of cabbage and carrots. Mix well and fry till slightly wilted. 
• Add leaves of cabbage. Fry for a minute 
• Add 2tbps of hot water/chicken stock. 
• Add Udon and mix well. 
• Add chicken pieces and mix well. 
• Add seasonings. 1 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp light soya sauce, 2 tbsp kecap manis, 1 tsp dark soya sauce (for colour). Mix well and fry till sauce starts to dry and Udon well coated with sauce.
• Taste and adjust accordingly. 
• Add spring onion to garnish. Serve hot. 

Seafood Hor Fun (海鲜河粉)

Ingredients: (portion for 2 adults, 2 kids)

• 800g of broad kway tiao (bought from wet market)
• 8 pieces of Prawns (remove shell and devein)
• 1 medium-size sotong (cleaned and sliced into pieces)
• 200g lean meat (sliced to thin pieces) 
• 100g sliced fish (optional, can use any fillet fish) 
• Fishcake (sliced) 
• A handful of cai sim 
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 2 beaten eggs
• Half bowl potato starch mixed with water
• About 1.5litres of homemade chicken stock (refer to notes at end of recipe) 

Method:

1. Marinate sliced lean meat with 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of light soya sauce, 1/2 tsp cooking wine, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, a dash of pepper  and 1 tsp of corn flour. Mix well and set aside or at least 30 minutes. 
2. Heat wok with some oil on medium heat. Add minced garlic and fry till fragrant. Add kway tiao and use chopsticks to loosen. Add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Mix well and stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add more sauce if you want your Kway tiao darker. Fry A little longer if you want them charred. Remove and set aside. (I normally don’t rinse Kway tiao. If you have concerns, you can rinse quickly over running water on colander.) Drain and add some cooking oil. 
3. Heat same wok with some oil. Stirfry garlic till fragrant. Add marinated lean meat. Stirfry till Pork is no longer pink. Add in homemade chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add prawns and sotong. Add caixin, marinated sliced fish and fish cakes. 
4. Add seasonings: light soya sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, a little dark soy sauce for colour,  some pepper and a dash of cooking wine. Mix well. Taste and adjust accordingly to your taste.
5. Thickened with potato starch water. Drizzle beaten eggs all around. Let it set for five seconds, then off heat and use spatula to gently stir.
6. To serve, place some kway tiao on plate and pour sauce over. Serve hot with green chili. 

Notes: 

To make homemade chicken stock, prepare 4 chicken carcasses and 1 dozen of chicken feet. Blanched chicken carcasses and chicken feet to remove blood. Remove, rinsed and set aside. Boil about 2 liters of water in a fresh pot. Prepare 3 stalks of spring onion, 2 inch size ginger, 10cloves of garlic and 2 stalks of coriander roots (optional). Placed ingredients and blanched chicken into the fresh pot of water. Bring to a rolling boil for 25mins and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer gently on stovetop for 1-1.5 hours. 

I prefer to use a thermal to pot to cook chicken stock. Bring the ingredients to a boil for 15mins. Then transfer to outer pot for at least 6 hours. Reheat thermal pot. Bring to a rolling boil and transfer to outer pot for it to continue to cook for another 6-8hours for thicker broth. You can reheat the third time and chicken stock is good to use. 

Salted Egg Tempura Seaweed Tofu

{Collaboration} Salted Egg Tempura Seaweed Tofu 😋 

Lai lai lai, Zi Char Stall open liao! Kids complaining not enough dishes, so FHFL cooked another dish! 😝😝 Deep-fried egg tofu, combined with egg floss and Tao Kae Noi salted egg tempura seaweed and the end result is, super yummy! 😄 No seasonings required at all! Crispy tempura seaweed is a prefect match with softness of egg tofu 

#TaoKaeNoi 

Ingredients: 

• 2 tubes of egg tofu 
• 2 beaten eggs, add a dash of fish sauce and mix well 
• 1 packet of Tao Kae Noi salted egg tempura seaweed, remove the desiccant inside the bag and crushed the tempura seaweed into smaller pieces 
• Chopped spring onion for garnishing (optional) 
• Chopped chili for garnishing (optional) 
• 2 tbsps of corn flour 

Method: 

1. Sliced egg tofu into pieces. Place sliced egg tofu on kitchen towels for 5 mins to absorb the water from tofu. 
2. Heat up a small pot with oil at medium high heat, enough to cover the tofu. 
3. Coat tofu slices with corn flour. Then coat with beaten egg. 
4. Gently lower tofu into hot oil. Deep fry till tofu crispy and brown. Remove and drain on kitchen towel. 
5. Pour remaining egg slowly into a sieve and into hot oil. This will create egg floss. Remove egg floss and drain on kitchen towel. Egg floss is optional so if you don’t like , you can omit. 
6. Mix tempura seaweed with egg floss. Lay on plate. Placed tofu on top of egg floss mix. Pour the rest of the tempura seaweed on top of tofu. Served hot. 

Homemade Pasta Sauce 🍝

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 300g minced pork 
• 1 medium-size diced yellow onion
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 fresh medium-size tomatoes , diced 
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried parsley 
• 1 tsp oregano
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups of chicken broth (either homemade or store-bought) 
• 1-2 tbsp of butter (optional) 
• Pasta of your choice cooked according to package directions
• Parmesan cheese for topping

Method: 

1. Heat pot at medium heat. Add olive oil. Once oil is hot, Add minced pork, diced onion and minced garlic and cook. Stir and break up minced pork until crumbly and browned. Drain off excess oil , if necessary. 
2. Stir in tomato paste into the mixture and cook for a minute or two. Then add basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until well combined. Add diced tomatoes and stir well. Add chicken broth and sugar and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes while you cook your pasta or for up an hour to deepen the flavors.
3. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, only if needed. If the sauce is too acidic for your taste, add optional butter and allow to melt into the sauce. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving for sauce to mellow. If you've used San Marzano tomatoes, it is unlikely you'll feel the need to add the butter but it is an excellent way to balance the flavors even further if you'd like.
4. Serve over cooked pasta or your choice and top with Parmesan cheese. Add Tabasco sauce for an extra kick. 

One-pot dish! Roasted pork with mixed vegetables (一品锅)

Ingredients:

• $2-$3 Roasted Pork, sliced into smaller pieces 
• 2 tubes egg Tofu 
• 7 florets broccoli, Blanched 
• 1/2 onion, sliced 
• 1/2 carrots,sliced
• 8 pieces of prawns , deshelled and deveined 
• 4 big leaves long cabbage cut into smaller pieces 

Method: 

1. Sliced egg tofu into pieces. Let it dry over 2 pieces of kitchen towels for 10 mins. Heat wok/pan with some oil. Panfry egg tofu till golden brown. 
2. Leave a tbsp of oil in wok. Add sliced onion and sauté till fragrant. Add roasted pork and Stirfry for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 tbsps of oyster sauce and 1 to 1.5 cups of water (depending on how much sauce you would like). Mix well and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer for about 10minutes. 
3. Add sliced carrots and the stem of long cabbage. Let it simmer for 7minutes. 
4. Add the leaves of long cabbage. Continue to simmer till cabbage is cook. 
5. Add prawns. 
6. Seasoned with a tbsp of light soya sauce, a dash of cooking wine and pepper. Adjust taste accordingly. 
7. Thickened sauce with corn flour water. Add broccoli and egg tofu and mix well. Served hot. 

Note: 

You can add any vegetables or ingredients you like, for e.g sweet peas, celery baby corn etc. One of the dishes that you can cook for a clear-fridge day! 

Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki (modified)

{Collaboration}

Supper for my gal as she had early dinner with her friends! 😱 Using Tramontina 22cm non-stick Panama did a modified-version of Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki siong whatever ingredients I can find at home.
#RobinsonsSg #TramontinaOfficial

Ingredients: 

• 150 ml water 
• 1 tsp mirin
• 100 g all-purpose flour 
• About 3-4 large cabbage leaves (shredded /sliced thinly) 
• 1 stalk of spring onion (chopped into small pieces) 
• 2 Tbsp dried bonito flakes (use a mortar to grind into powder). 
• 6 slices bacon 
• 2 Yakisoba noodles (can replace by instant noodles) 
• 2 large eggs

Toppings: 

• Okonomiyaki sauce 
• Japanese Mayonnaise 
• Aonori (dried green seaweed) 

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, add water and mirin. Add flour and whisk until combined. Chill the batter for an hour in the refrigerator so that the texture becomes smooth. Meanwhile, cut the cabbage and spring onion into thin slices. Make one Okonomiyaki at one time. Divide the ingredients into two sets. 
2. Separate the noodles with hands. Heat up the pan with a tbsp of oil. Placed noodles into heated pan. Stir fry noodles until they’re coated with oil. Add 1-2 tbsp Okonomiyaki sauce and coat with noodles. Make the noodles into a round shape similar to the size of the pan. Slide the noodles into a plate and set aside. 
3. With the same pan, pour about 1/4 cup of batter once it’s heated. Using the back of the ladle, move in spiral motion from the center towards the edge of the batter. This will make the batter thin out and maintain a nice round shape. The width of the crepe is about the size of the pan. Sprinkle bonito flakes on the batter and placed vcabbage on top. Add 3 slices of bacon without overlapping. Pour 1 tbsp of batter on top, as this will served as glue. 
4. When the crepe is set, using 2 spatulas one on each side, carefully slip to the other side. Don’t press down the crepe. When the bacon is no longer pink, turn the heat down. Using spatulas, transfer the Okonomiyaki on top of the noodles. 
5. Heat a tbsp of oil in pan and crack an eg. Quickly spread the egg into the same sise as the crepe. Before the egg is completely cooked, carefully slide the Okonomiyaki on top of the egg. When bottom of egg is cooked, using the spatulas, flip it over the last time. Season with Okonomiyaki sauce, Mayonnaise and aonori. Serve immediately 🙂 

Note: You can use two pans to cook this. One pan to cook the noodles and the other for the Okonomiyaki. 

Panfry Teriyaki Chicken Midwings

[Collaboration] : Panfry Teriyaki Chicken Midwings

Easy dinner for 3 pax as Hubby and daughter is eating out tonight! Using Tramontina 22cm non-stick pan and panfry 10 chicken midwings to brown on both sides. Then add teriyaki sauce to simmer till cooked and dinner is done!

Tramontina cookware is made with high quality aluminum and heat resistant Bakelite handle. Cooking and cleaning the pan is also a breeze.

Do visit the Tramontina Singapore Page on Q10 at
https://www.qoo10.sg/shop/tramontina  to enjoy *20% off storewide! (*except for economical range.)

Download the coupon with the promo code: "TRA20%OFF!" and apply it during payment to enjoy the 20% discount. This special promotion is valid from 25 August to 1 September 2018.
#RobinsonsSg #TramontinaOfficial

Ingredients:

• 10 chicken midwings 

Teriyaki sauce:

• 4 tbsps Japanese light soya sauce 
• 2.5 tbsps mirin 
• 1 tbsp sake 
• 150ml water 

Method:

1. Rub chicken midwings with some salt to remove smell and dirt. Rinse off, pat dry and set aside. 
2. Prepare teriyaki sauce in a bowl and set aside. 
3. Heat Tramontina non-stick Pan, medium-high Heat. Add chicken midwings into heated pan. Let chicken brown on one side. Flip to the other side after about 3 mins.  
4. Once wings are brown on both sides, pour prepared sauce into pan. Bring sauce to a boil and lower to a simmer till chicken wings are cooked. Turn chicken to ensure it is well coated with sauce. 
5. Off heat. Serve hot with rice and blanched broccoli and carrots for a complete meal.  

Cereal egg tofu (麦片蛋豆腐)

Ingredients: 

• 2 tubes of Egg tofu

For the cereal :

• About 3 to 4 tbsp of butter 
• 8 tbsp of Nestum cereal (depending on how much you want. I added more as my kids loves it!) 
• 1/2 tsp of salt 
• 2 tbsps of fine sugar 
• 3 tbsps of milk powder (Can be bought from Phoon Huat. I used my son’s milk powder.) 
• A handful of curry leaves 

Method: 

1. Sliced egg tofu into pieces. Let it dry over  2 pcs of kitchen paper for abt 15 mins . Coat the egg tofu with cornflour.  Pan fry till light brown.  Set aside. 
2. Melt the butter in pan with the smallest fire . Once melted, add salt, sugar and curry leaves. Stir a while and fry till frangrant. 
3. Add cereal and mix well . Add milk powder . Ensure that you use small fire to fry as cereal will burn easily. 
4. Keep stirring . The cereal will turn crispy it take about 8 mins or so . 
5. Taste it at this time . Adjust accordingly to your taste. 
6. Once it’s ready, add egg tofu and  coat well with the cereal . And it ready to serve !

*** Recioe adapted from Zann Teo

Fried Mee Tai Bak

Ingredients: (Serves 2 adults and 2 kids) 

• 800g Mee tai bak (bought from wet market) 
• 1/2 carrot julienned 
• 2 pieces of fishcakes, sliced 
• 20cents of bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup of minced pork (marinated with some light soya sauce, sesame oil, pepper, cooking wine and corn flour) 
• 2 tbsps minced garlic 
• 2 tbsps minced dry shrimps/haebi (optional) 
• 2 beaten eggs 
• Can also add minced pork (marinated with light soya sauce, a pinch of salt, a dash of cooking wine and pepper and corn flour) 

Seasonings (estimated, pls adjust accordingly to your taste): 

• 1 1/2 tbsps Light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark soya sauce (Da Hua brand) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp Dark soya sauce /kecap manis 
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce

Method: 

1. Heat wok with a tbsp of oil. Fry eggs. Use spatula to cut eggs into smaller pieces. Remove and set aside. 
2. Add another a tsp of oil. Add bean sprouts and fry for a minute. Add a pinch of salt and drizzle a dash of cooking wine. Remove and set aside. This is to remove the raw taste of bean sprouts. (Easier for my kids to eat) 
3. Add another tbsp of oil. Add carrots and fry for about two minutes. Remove and set aside. 
4. If you’re adding minced pork, add a tsp of oil into wok. Stirfry quickly and break up the pork into smaller pieces. Remove and set aside once pork is no longer pink. 
5. Add another tbsp of oil. Fried chopped dry shrimps till fragrant. Remove and set aside. 
6. Heat wok with two tbsp of oil (I used shallot oil). Sauté minced garlic till fragrant. Add Mee tai bak and fry for a minute. Add seasonings, Stirfry and mix well. 
7. Add bean sprouts, carrots, eggs, chopped dry shrimps and minced pork (if you’re adding). Stir and mix well. Topped with fried shallots and served hot with sambal chili. 

Mui Fan 🍚

My version of Mui Fan!
One of the dishes that I like to cook as you can add any ingredients you like! My boys likes mui fan as it tasted like Hor Fun but gravy on white rice 😊

Ingredients:

• About 1.5 liters Chicken stock (either homemade or store-bought)
• 2 tbsps of Minced garlic
• 8 Prawns (deshelled and deveined, marinate with a little salt n pepper)
• 1 piece of Fish cake (sliced)
• 1 medium size Sotong (cleaned and sliced into pieces) 
• 100g Lean pork (sliced, pre-marinated with light soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, corn flour and a dash of pepper and cooking wine)
• A handful of Cai xin 
• Two eggs (beaten)
• Pototoe starch water (half cup of potatoes starch flour mixed with 3/4 cups of water). 

** Ingredients are flexible. You can add any ingredients you like, for e.g. chicken instead of pork, sliced crabsticks, sausages, mushrooms etc.

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in wok. Once hot, add minced garlic till fragrant. 
2. Add sliced lean pork and stir fry for two mins. Add prawns and Sotong, stir fry for half a minute. 
3. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. 
4. Add fish cake and caixin. Mixed well. 
5. Seasoned with some light soya sauce, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar. Adjust seasonings according to your taste. I added a dash of fish sauce, but it's optional. (I didn’t measure the amount of seasonings. I added a little more seasonings as I’m using plain white rice.) 
6. Bring to a boil. 
7. Thickened with potatoe starch water. Continuously stir the gravy as you pour the potato starch water so as to prevent it from clumping. 
8. Once the thick consistency is done, drizzle in beaten eggs all around the gravy then off fire. Use spatula to gently stir the eggs. 
9. Pour sauce over rice and serve hot with sambal or green chili as sides.

Homemade Fish Nuggets (自制炸鱼块）🐟

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Fresh fish fillets, deboned  (I used Ang Gor Li)
• Batter:
• 2 cups of Self-raising flour
• 2-4 tbsps of rice flour 
• Cold water (from chiller) *sorry, didn’t measure how much water was used 
• 2 tbsps of cooking oil
• A tsp of  salt
• A dash of pepper

Marinate:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• A dash of pepper
• 1 egg

Method:

1. Sliced fish fillets into smaller pieces, about 2 cm by 2cm.
2. Marinate fish fillets. Set aside for an hour.
3. Prepare batter. Mix till no lumps. Batter consistency should be slightly thick and not watery. 
4. Heat up a pot with oil. Medium to high heat.
5. Coat fish fillets well with batter and deep fry till fish is light yellowish. Set aside.
6. Turn up the heat to high. Deep fry fillets for the second time to achieve crispness. Served hot with tartar sauce/ Mayonnaise/ chili sauce. 

Braised Crabmeat Broth (蟹肉羹) 🦀

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 liters Homemade Chicken broth
• 2 cups Crabmeat (either fresh or frozen) 
• 10 Fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly 
• Potato starch water - 1/2 cup of potato starch mixed with 1/2 cup of water (This is an estimate as I didn’t measure when I cooked. Potato starch water should be of a thick consistency and not watery). 

Seasonings: 

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce 
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2-4 drops dark soya sauce 
• A dash of pepper 

Method: 

1. To prepare fresh Crabmeat, steamed two flower crabs with some slices ginger, cooled and remove crab meat. Shred to smaller pieces. 
2. For frozen crab meat, it can be bought from supermarket.  After defrost, give it a quick rinse and drained away excess water. Do check through to remove any crab shells. 
3. Bring chicken stock to a boil. 
4. Add fresh shiitake mushrooms and boil for 5mins. 
5. Add crab meat. 
6. Add seasonings. Stir well and adjust accordingly to your taste. 
7. Bring to a boil. Prepared potato starch water. Once soup boils, use ladle to stir soup continuously in one direction and slowly pour potato starch water in as you stir. Once broth achieved a thick consistency and started to simmer, off heat. 
8. Add beaten eggs by drizzle in slowly as you stir gently. Allow eggs to set. 
9. Garnish with coriander. Topped with some pepper, black vinegar and light soya sauce for added taste. Serve hot 😊

Egg tofu with minced pork

Ingredients:

• 2 tubes of egg tofu
• 1 cup of minced pork
• 1 tbsp of minced garlic
• 3 red small onion, sliced thinly
• 1 to 1.5 cup of hot water (estimate as it depends on how much sauce you want) 
• 1 tbsp dark soya sauce 
• A dash of pepper and cooking wine 
• Corn flour water for thickening (mix 1tsp corn flour mix with 1.5 tsp water) 
• 2 tbsps of fried shallots (optional)
• 1 tbsp chopped spring onion (optional: for garnishing)

Marinate:

• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp cooking wine / shaoxing jiu
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• 1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Marinate minced pork with seasonings. Set aside.
2. Sliced egg tofu into pieces. Lay on top of a piece of kitchen towel to absorb the water for 5 minutes.
3. Heat about half cup of oil in wok, medium to high heat.
4. Once oil is hot, gently remove egg tofu from kitchen towel and lower into oil. Panfry egg tofu till it’s brown and crisp on the outside. Remove and lay flat on dish.
5. Leave about a tbsp of oil in wok. Add minced garlic and sliced onion. Sauté till fragrant. Add marinated minced pork. Stirfry quickly and use spatula to break minced pork to smaller pieces. 
6. Add hot water and give it a quick stir. Lower heat to a simmer once it boils. 
7. Simmer for five minutes. Add dark soya sauce, pepper and cooking wine. Taste and adjust accordingly to your taste. 
8. Thickened sauce with prepared corn flour water. (*Prepare more corn flour water to thicken sauce if you add more water to minced pork). Off heat. 
9. Pour sauce over egg tofu. Garnish with fried shallots and chopped spring onion. Serve hot. 😃 

Sweet and Sour Pork (咕噜肉)

Ingredients:

• 500g Pork with fats (I get the butcher to give me the cut of meat for this)
• 1 yellow capsicum , sliced into wedges 
• 1 red capsicum, sliced into wedges 
• 1 Japanese cucumber, cut into pieces 
• 1 yellow onion, cut into wedges 

Sweet and sour sauce:

• 1 tbsp plum sauce
•  3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 oyster sauce
• 100ml water

Method:

1. Cut Pork into 1/2 inches thick and pound with back of knife till tender. Then sliced into cubes. 
2. Add in marinade: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 egg, 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1tsp bicarbonate of soda, 3 tbsp water. Marinate for an hour or longer.
3. Mix 1.5 cups of sweet potato flour and 0.5 cup of plain flour together. Place mixed flour into a ziplock bag. Transfer marinated pork cubes into ziplock bag, zipped and shake to coat pork cubes with flour mixture. This method helps to coat the pork cubes well and won’t dirty your hands or tabletop.  
4. Heat up oil in pot. Once oil is hot, remove pork cubes from flour and deep fry until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Once all pork cubes are done, increase heat in pot and do a second frying to crisp the pork cubes. 
5. Prepare sauce in a bowl. 
6. Heat wok with 1tbsp oil. Stirfry onion for a minute, add capsicum, cucumber or other vegetables. Fry till fragrant. Pour in sauce and bring to a boil. Add a little cornflour water to thickened mixture. Add deep fried pork and mix well. Dish up and serve hot

Note:
- You can have other variations to the sides, e.g. Green capsicum, pineapples or tomatoes
- To ensure pork is crispy, you can do double-frying before adding to cook with sauce.
- Normally, I'll set aside some sauce and deep fried pork cubes separately for my hubby who have his dinner later. In this way, the Pork will not be cold and soggy.

Homemade Char Siew

Ingredients: (Serves 2 adults and 3 kids) 
1.5kg Pork shoulder Flap/ Plane meat (飞机肉) 
* You can also buy 五花肉. The pork you used for char siew has to have some fats so that it will not be dry. 

Seasonings: 

• 2 tbsp light soya sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce 
• 2 tbsp honey 
• 2 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• * For brushing on char siew when browning in oven, prepare 2 tbsp maltose, mixed with 1 tbsp water and dissolve. You can replace by honey if maltose is unavailable. Dissolve one tbsp of honey with 1 tbsp of water. 

Method: 

1. Mix seasonings in a bowl. Placed pork in ziplock bag and pour seasonings. Zipped and ensure that pork is well coated with seasonings. Marinate in the fridge for two days (if not at least overnight). 
2. Bring pork out to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking. 
3. Heat up non-stick pan with medium heat. Place meat inside and pour all the marinate together. Let it boil and then simmer. Flipped the pork in-between to let it coat with the marinate evenly. Remove when it's almost done. Once you see the marinate becoming lesser and thicker, you can remove it and set it on cooking paper. 
4. Transfer char siew to preheated oven of 180deg to brown it further and crisp on the outside. Remove and brush some maltose/honey over pork to glaze it and pop back oven for about two mins. Sliced and serve. 

** Special thanks to Ms Alice Lau as recipe is adapted and modified from hers. 

Chicken Baked Rice

Ingredients: (Serving for 4)

• 1.5 cups uncooked rice
• 2 boneless chicken thigh 
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables 
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 big onion, diced 
• 1 packet cooking cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt (adjust according to taste)
• some black pepper
• some grated mozzarella cheese
• dried parsley

Method:

1. Wash and cook rice with rice cooker. 
2. Diced chicken thigh. Marinate with a tsp of salt and dash of pepper. Marinate for about 15mins. 
3. Heat up a pan, with 2 tbsp butter. Add diced onion and minced garlic, sauté till fragrant. Add in the marinated diced chicken. Stir fry till no longer pink. Add mixed vegetables and mix well. 
4. Add in the cream, stir well. Add in chicken stock. Bring to a gentle simmer for few minutes. Season with black pepper and salt. 
5. Add in the cooked rice. Stir and mix rice with sauce. Let rice coat with sauce and absorb the sauce. Off heat after 2 minutes. 
6. Transfer rice into a heatproof baking dish. Cover top with grated cheese. 
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degC, till the cheese turns golden brown. Sprinkle with some dried parsley. Serve immediately.  

Revised recipe (dated 19 July 2019): 

Made some modifications to my previous recipe and it works wonders! 😁😁😁 

Modifications to recipe: 

• During cooking of rice in rice cooker, add about 1.5 tbsps of garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and 1 tsp of salt. Add 1.5 tbsp of butter into rice when it’s cooked mixed well. You can choose to use water/chicken stock for the rice.  I tried using pearl rice to cook for this time and it tasted great! 
• If you have overnight rice to clear, you can fry rice with butter and add  garlic powder and salt also. 

Method: 

1. Rinsed and pat dry chicken thighs. Marinate chicken thighs, both sides with some salt and black pepper.  
2. Heat pan st medium heat. Place chicken thighs, skin-down and let it fry for about 5mins, till it’s brown and crispy. This is to render the oil from the chicken skin. Flip over to the other side and panfry for 3mins. Remove and set aside. Sliced into bite size when it cooler. 
3. Using the same pan with the chicken oil, add diced onions and garlic. Sauté till fragrant. (You can add some butter if there is little chicken oil. Add 5 pieces of Swiss mushrooms (sliced), mixed vegetables and chopped chicken. Fry for few mins. Add a packet of cooking cream, half cup of milk and chicken stock. Simmer for 5mins. Seasoned with dashes of salt and pepper (adjust taste accordingly). Sprinkle a tbsp of plain flour over sauce and mix well to thicken the sauce slightly. Off heat. 
4. Transfer rice to heat-proof baking dish. Pour cream sauce onto rice. Topped with grated mozzarella cheese over rice. I added some Parmesan cheese too. 
5. Drizzle a little olive oil before baking in preheated oven about 190 degrees for about 15-20mins or till cheese melts and and turns golden brown. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander or dry parsley. Serve hot. 

Chicken midwings with potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken midwings 
• 3 medium size potatoes 
• 4-5 slices of ginger 
• 5 cloves of minced garlic 

Seasonings:

• 1 bowl of water 
• 2 tbsps dark soya sauce (KCT brand) 
• 2 tbsp light soya sauce 
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1 tbsp sesame oil 
• 1 tsp of sugar 
• 1 tbsp cooking wine 
• A dash of white pepper 

Method:

1. Add 2 tbsps of salt to chicken midwings and rub onto wings. This is to remove smell and any dirt on chicken. Washed and drain dry chicken midwings. Add a tbsp of light soya sauce and sesame oil to wings. Mix well. 
2. Peeled and cut potatoes into chunks. Heat oil in wok, lightly fry potatoes. Remove, drain oil and set aside. 
3. Leave some oil in wok. Add ginger and minced garlic. Fry till fragrant. Add chicken midwings. Stirfry till half-cooked. Add potatoes and all the seasonings. Stir well and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for about 10-15mins or till chicken is cooked. Prepare cornflour water and thickened gravy. Served hot with rice ☺️

*Pls adjust seasonings according to your taste. I tend to add more water as my kids loved the gravy with rice. You can adjust the taste before you thickened the gravy.

Simple Panfry Chicken Legs (香煎去骨鸡腿肉)

One of the simplest dish my mother taught me! Only chicken legs and 4 sauce condiments! ✌️ And it’s so flavorful! ☺️

Ingredients:

• 5 chicken boneless legs (bought fresh from market) 

Marination:

• 1.5 tbsp light soya sauce 
• 2 tbsp dark soya sauce (Guang Xiang tai brand) 
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1 tbsp sesame oil 

Method:

1. Add 3 tbsp of salt on chicken legs. Rub all over chicken legs. Rinsed off salt and pat dry. 
2. Add marination onto chicken legs. Use hand to massage and ensure chicken legs are well coated with sauce. Alternatively, you can place chicken legs into a ziplock bag. Add marination and zip bag. Massage chicken legs to ensure that it’s well-coated with marinate. Marinate overnight or at least 4 hours. 
3. Bring chicken legs 30minutes out of fridge before frying. 
4. Heat non-stick pan, medium-heat. When pan is hot, place two pieces of marinated chicken legs, skin-down on pan. Cover with lid and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. Flipped to the other side and cooked for 4minutes, then flip back to skin-side again to Char the skin. If you like the chicken more char, fry it for longer period of time. Do the same for the rest of the chicken legs. Serve chicken with hot steamed rice. 

Note: Do not need to oil pan as chicken skin will emit oil upon frying.

Fish Fillet with ginger and spring onion (姜葱鱼片)

Ingredients:

• 300g   Fish fillet, sliced 
• 50g     ginger , sliced thinly 
• 3/4      stalks spring onion, cut into 3 cm long, separate white and green parts 
• 2 tbsp minced garlic 

Marinate for fish slices:

• 1    egg white 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1    tsp sugar
• 1    tbsp light soya sauce 
• 1    tsp corn flour 
• 1    tbsp ginger juice 
• Dash of pepper and sesame oil 

Seasonings:

• 2    tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1    tbsp light soya sauce 
• 1/4 tsp dark soya sauce (optional: for colour) 
• 1/2 sesame oil 
• 1/2 Chinese cooking wine 
• 3     tbsps hot water 

Method:

1. Mix fish fillet with marinate and season for 30monites. Heat oil in wok and fry fish slices about 30 seconds on each sides, taking care not to break fish into small pieces. Drained and set aside. 
2. Mixed seasonings in a bowl and set aside. 
3. Remove oil, leaving approximately 1 tbsp of oil in wok. Sauté ginger till fragrant. Add mixed garlic and white part of spring onion and fry for 1/2 minute. 
4. Add in fish slices, rest of the seasonings and green part of spring onion. Stirfry at high heat till well-mixed. Thickened with corn flour water and served hot with white rice. 

Today’s bento 🍱: Simple stirfry macaroni

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup elbow macaroni
• 2 tbsp mixed vegetables
• 1 tbsp imitation crab meat  
• 1 piece of ham, diced 
• 1 beaten egg 
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1/2 tsp light soya sauce 
• A dash of white pepper and sesame oil

Method:

1. Boil water in a pot with some salt.  Boil elbow macaroni till al dente. Set aside. 
2. Reserved 1 tbsp of water from boiling macaroni in a bowl. Add in the seasonings, ketchup, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
3. Heat a saucepan with a tbsp of oil. Scrambled beaten egg into smaller pieces and set aside. 
4. Add another tbsp of oil in the pan. Saute minced garlic till fragrant. 
5. Add mixed vegetables and stirfry for half a minute. Add imitation crab meat and ham. 
6. Add elbow macaroni and mix well. 
7. Drizzle in the prepared sauce and stirfry quickly to combine with macaroni.  
8. Lastly, add in scrambled egg, mix well and off heat. 
9. Transfer into thermal lunchbox immediately or pack into lunchbox when it cooled slightly. 

#kidsluncbox

Steamed minced pork with salted fish (咸鱼蒸肉饼)

Ingredients: 

• 250g minced pork
• 1 thumb size ginger
• 1 piece of salted fish 
• 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp corn flour 
• 2 tbsp ginger juice 
• 1 tbsp sesame oil 
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine 
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp of chicken/pork bone stock 
• A dash of pepper 
• 2 tbsp of shallot oil (drizzle on top of minced pork before steaming) 
• Chopped spring onion for garnishing 

Method: 

1. Placed minced pork in a bowl. Add seasonings and stir in one direction till it’s well-combined. Minced pork mixture should be soft and has a sticky texture. Set aside for about an hour. 
2. Placed minced pork in a plate for steaming. Julienne ginger and placed on top of minced pork. 
3. Rinsed and slice salted fish into smaller pieces. Heat up a small saucepan with 1 tbsp oil. Fry salted fish slices till light brown and crispy. Remove and placed on top of minced pork. 
4. Heat up steamer. Drizzle shallot oil over minced pork and steam over high heat around 18minutes till Pork is cooked. Garnished with chopped spring onion. Served hot with porridge or rice.