Chicken and Scallop Porridge

My ultimate comfort food....a bowl of piping hot porridge!
This is today's breakfast :) Started cooking last night after dinner, and then transferred it into the slow cooker to let it cook slowly loh...haha.
This is really very nice, so anyone who wants to eat porridge or prepare a nice breakfast for your loved ones, try this!


Ingredients:
Chicken meat (cut into cubes)
Chicken bones
Potatoes (cut into small cubes)
Carrot (cut into small cubes)
Dried scallop
Rice (washed and soak for 30min -put it in the fridge)
Light soya sauce
Oyster sauce
Sugar
Sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
Spring onions (cut into fine pieces)
Ginger


Method:
1. Pour boiling water over the chicken bones.
2. Remove the chicken bones.
3. Boil a pot of water, add in the chicken bones, dried scallop, carrot, potatoes, garlic and ginger (put a piece of about 2cm long and cut into it a little so that the flavor can permeate easily) and rice.
If you are using slow cooker throughout the whole process, you can just leave the rice to cook. If you are cooking this with a stove first (like what I did), then you need to stir it to avoid the rice from sticking at the bottom of the pot. Use medium heat for stove.
4. Meanwhile, marinate the chicken meat with sugar, salt, pepper, light soya sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce for at least 30min.
5. Cook the rice until it turns into porridge, add in the marinated chicken meat.
6. This should all take ~1 hour and you can serve the porridge now if you want to (just add salt to taste before serving). I prefer it to be really broken down and thick, so at this point, I transferred it into a slow cooker.
7. Set the slow cooker to automatic mode, and let it cook overnight (if you're not cooking it overnight, then let it stay in the cooker until serving time).
8. Add salt to taste and there you go.....a nice bowl of porridge. Garnish it with shreds of ginger and some spring onions.

Angel Hair Pasta with Sardine Sauce

This great idea of cooking pasta with sardine came from my friend, Maggie who really has much cooking inspiration especially when it comes to cooking one-dish meals.
I am not sure if this the way it should be cooked but there are no strict rules when it comes to cooking, so I agak-agak and came out with this. Looks great huh? ;p

Ingredients:
Angel Hair pasta
Sardines in tomato sauce (canned) - remove the bones and mash
Tomatoes - cut in cubes
Big onions - diced
Garlic - sliced
Salt
Black pepper
Mixed herbs (those sold in bottles)
Olive oil
Water

Method:
1. Bring water to boil in a pot and cook pasta per packet instruction.
2. Add some salt to the pasta.
3. When pasta is soft, drain in a bowl. You can divide it into serving portions if you prefer.
4. Heat some olive oil in wok and brown garlic.
5. Add onions and stir fry till fragrant.
6. Add in tomatoes and stir well.
7. Pour in the mashed sardines and mix well.
8. Add some black pepper, mixed herbs and salt to taste.
9. Add some water and bring to boil. You can adjust the amount of water according to the thickness of sauce (personal preference).
10. Cook for a few minutes and the sauce is done.
11. Pour sauce over pasta.

I like a balanced meal, so added some stir fry sweet peas with carrot.
The colour makes the whole presentation nicer too :)
Since my VIP dinner guest must have some meat, the other addition you see is fried black pepper frankfurters which I have cut in slices.

I think you can garnish or add anything you like to the pasta. I usually think of the colour of the ingredients and its texture when considering the combination.

VIP guest said it's yummy, so thanks to Maggie for the idea!
This is really easy to cook and the preparation + cooking time is only 45min including the "side dishes".

Chocolate Raisin Cake

Baking is really not my forte but I've always wanted to practice and since I have brought my oven back from hometown, I started out by baking a cake....the idiot proof way ;p
I used a premix baking flour and this one is from Nona. The result? Edible. Haha...but I won't try it again.

Ingredients:
Nona premix baking flour - Chocolate raisin flavor
~200 gm of raisins
150gm butter
4 grade A eggs (I used 5 small ones)


Method:
(This is according to the instruction on pack)
1. Mix the eggs with the flour for 3 minutes.
2. Add butter and beat till fluffy.
3. Preheat oven at 150C.
4. Add raisins to the mixture and stir well.
5. Bake for 75-80 minutes at 150C.

The instruction on the pack says use 375gm of raisins which I think is too much. I used only 200gm and the whole cake is almost covered with raisins, so if you use 375gm of raisins I guess it will taste more like raisins than a cake!

Coleslaw

Here's another "idiot-proof" recipe which requires no cooking but tastes great. I prepared this for our church's pot-bless lunch and someone said it's like the coleslaw from KFC but I think it's a little different from that fast food chain's cabbage salad. So, even if you don't like KFC's version, you can still try this! Haha...

Ingredients:
Cabbage
Carrot (Australian carrot is better than local and China carrots as it's 'sweeter')
Lady's Choice Coleslaw dressing
Lemon

Method:
1. Cut cabbage and carrot into small pieces/cubes.
2. Add in the coleslaw dressing and mix it well.
3. Squeeze in some lemon juice.
4. Mix it and keep in a container and leave it in the fridge until it's chilled.
5. Dig it! Yummy...

Stir Fried French Beans with Prawns

Apart from the fish, here is another dish which I cooked during the weekend. Such simple cooking always reminds me of home cooking (mum's cooking). I'd always wonder why we crave for home cooking, and I guess it's because of the love of the cook. :)


Ingredients:
French beans
Prawns
Garlic
Salt
Oil
Water


Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok and brown the garlic.
2. Stir in the prawns.
3. Add the french beans and stir fry for 3-4min.
4. Season with some salt and add some water.
5. Cook till the french beans is 'soft' (up to personal preference) and it's ready to be served.

Fish with Preserved Soya Beans and Tomatoes

I was back in Taiping home last weekend and thought it has been a while since I cooked for my family, so I decided to have some fun in the kitchen! This is one of the dishes I cooked for lunch (and dinner) on Sunday.
*Doesn't look delicious from this picture but this is really easy to cook and it taste great! You can't even see the fish in this pic because they were swimming in the pool of gravy ;p

Ingredients:
Fish (you can use any kind of fish) - clean and rub the fish with some salt
Tomatoes
Spring onions
Chilli
Garlic
Ginger
Preserved bean paste (known as "tau cheong" in Cantonese)
Salt
Oil
Water

Method:
1. Heat enough oil in a wok and fry the fish till golden brown. Dish up and leave aside.
2. Scoop up the excess oil from frying. Leave a little oil in the wok and stir fry some garlic.
3. Add in the ginger, chilli and preserved bean paste.
4. Stir fry till fragrant. Add tomatoes and stir fry for a while.
5. Put in water (enough for gravy) and cook till it boils.
6. Add in the fish and let it simmer for ~1min. Add in the spring onions.
7. Cook for ~1min and dish up.

Stir Fried Korean Glass Noodles

I love this Korean dish, so I thought I'd give it a try and see how it turns out. I bought the glass noodles when I was in US for a working trip (only RM6 after the currency conversion compared to at least RM15 if we buy it in Malaysia). This is not the authentic Korean version (just my trial and error) but the taste is not bad ;p

Ingredients:
Korean glass noodles
Carrot
Onion
Spring onion
Garlic
Chinese mushroom
Capsicum/ red bell pepper
Egg
Sesame oil
Salt
Soya sauce
Sugar
Pepper
Water
* You can also add in other vegetables according to your preference.

Method:
1. Cook glass noodles in a pot of boiling water according to the packet’s instruction.
Note: These glass noodles are not like mi fen/bihun. Once cooked, what looked like one person’s portion may be enough for 2 persons, so exercise ‘agak-ration’ pls…
2. Drain the noodles and put in a big bowl or pot.
3. Heat some sesame oil and brown the garlic.
4. Add in the onions, stir fry for ~2min.
5. Put in carrot, capsicum and Chinese mushroom.
6. Season with salt, sugar and soya sauce.
7. Add some water and bring to boil.
8. Put in the spring onion and let it cook for 1min.
9. Dish up mix into the glass noodles.
Note: I did not add in sesame seed but if you choose to add in sesame seed (which I think will taste better), then mix it together in this step.
10. Beat the egg with some pepper and soya sauce.
11. In a wok/pan, fry the egg.
12. Then cut the egg into strips and mix it with the noodles or just garnish on top of the noodles.

Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables

This is a very simple dish. Here's a 'vegetarian' version but you can add in chicken meat or prawns or pork too.

Ingredients:

Carrots

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Garlic

Oyster sauce

Salt

Oil

Water

Method:

1. Boil a pot of water, add in 1-2 drops of oil and blanch the cauliflower and broccoli for 1-2min. Remove and drain in a plate/bowl.

2. Heat some oil and stir fry garlic until fragrant.

3. Add in the carrot stir fry for 2-3min.

4. Put in the cauliflower and broccoli.

5. Add oyster sauce and salt to taste. Add some water.

6. Stir fry till it boils and dish up to serve.

Kimbap (Korean Sushi)

A Korean friend, In Soon taught me this recipe some years back. This is not suitable for 1-2 persons, but it’s a great dish to prepare for potluck party.

Ingredients:
Seaweed sheets
Sushi rice
Carrot
Sausage
Crab stick
Cucumber
Preserved radish (you can get this in Japanese/Korean section in supermarkets)
Eggs
Sesame seed (buy those readily cooked/baked from supermarkets)
Sesame oil
Oil
Pepper
Salt





Method:
1. Cook sushi rice according to packet’s instructions.
2. Once cooked, scoop rice into a big bowl. Let it cool for ~30min.
3. Mix salt, sesame oil and sesame seed into the rice. Leave aside.
4. Cut carrots, sausages, cucumber and radish lengthwise.
5. Heat some oil in a wok and stir fry sausages and carrots separately and dish up.
6. Stir fry the crab stick for 1-2 min. Dish up and cut lengthwise.
*Do not cut crab stick before you stir fry as the layers will be loosened and you’ll get crab slices instead of crab stick ;p
7. Beat eggs with salt and pepper. Fry the egg, then ‘fold’ the omelet into a square shape. Cut lengthwise.
8. Place a seaweed sheet on a chopping board and spread the rice flat on the seaweed (like spreading butter on a piece of bread).
9. Place cucumber, carrot, radish, crab stick, egg and sausage on top of the rice and roll it.
10. Cut into pieces and serve. Taa-dah…here’s how it looks like!

Apple Salad

I simply love this salad. It’s so idiot-proof and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:
Red apples
Marigold low fat yoghurt (peach flavour)
Raisins

* You can use any kind of yoghurt and flavour but I find Marigold yoghurt is better than Nestle’s (too diluted). I use peach flavour because it’s my fav!

** Other fruits such as honeydew, pears, strawberries, etc can also be added.


Method:
1. Cut apples into small bite size pieces.
2. Put the apples into a bowl and mix in the yoghurt.
3. Add in the raisins.
4. Mix well. Serve chilled.

Stir Fried Mi Fen/ Bihun (Version 1)

Ingredients:
Mi Fen/ Bihun – soak in water until soft
Carrots
Cabbage
Garlic
Onion
Egg
Salt
Pepper
Honey
Soya sauce
Oil


Method:
1. In a wok, heat up some oil and stir fry the garlic.
2. Add in the onion, stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add carrots and cabbage.
4. Season it with salt, pepper and some soya sauce.
5. Turn the stove to low heat and put in the mi fen/ bihun.
6. Mix in some honey and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
7. Break the egg/s in a bowl and beat with some soya sauce and pepper.
8. Pour egg mixture to the mi fen/ bihun and stir fry until egg is cooked.
9. Dish up and you can serve the whole ‘kampung’! Haha…

Japanese Tofu in Mixed Vegetables & Egg Gravy

I was cracking my mind what to cook for a dinner with my house mates, so I start to recall all the dishes I’ve seen in those stalls selling economy rice (which most of the time is not economical at all ;p) and this one came to me….

Ingredients:
Japanese tofu (a.k.a. egg tofu)
Mixed vegetables
Egg
Oyster sauce
Salt
Garlic
Pepper
Chinese wine (optional)
Water
Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry the tofu until golden brown. Dish up in a plate.
(Make sure tofu is dry before frying)
2. Pour out the excess oil left from frying and leave a small amount in the wok.
3. Stir fry some garlic with the oil.
4. Add in the mix vegetables and put in some oyster sauce, salt and Chinese wine (optional).
5. Pour in some water and return the tofu in the wok.
6. Beat the egg with some pepper in a bowl and pour into the wok when mixture is boiling.
7. Stir to mix the gravy evenly and it’s done.

Stir Fried Vegetables and Glass Noodles with Egg

My mum taught me how to cook this dish probably more than 10 years ago. It’s simple, easy and yummy!

Ingredients:
Cabbage – shredded
Carrot – shredded
Egg (1 or 2) – beat till fluffy in a bowl
Glass noodles – soak for 10min in water
Garlic
Oil
Salt
Pepper
Oyster sauce (optional)
* You can also add in Chinese mushroom.

Method:
1. Heat some oil in a wok. Put in the chopped garlic.
2. Add in carrot and cabbage. Stir fry it for a 5-6 minutes.
3. Add in salt, pepper and oyster sauce (optional).
4. Add in the glass noodles and mix it well with the vegetables.
5. Pour in the egg and stir fry till egg is cooked.
6. Dish up and serve.

Mi Fen/ Bihun in Tomato Soup

This recipe was inspired by my friend, Andrea Yung who cooks with whatever resources she has in her own little room. I made some modification to the soup.

Ingredients:
Mi Fen/ Bihun (rice noodles)
Tomatoes – use at least 2 big + ripe ones/person (cut into wedges)
Cabbage
Chicken balls
Carrot
Garlic
Salt
Sugar
Soya sauce
Pepper
Water

* You can substitute chicken balls with any other things which you feel like eating e.g. fishballs/ sotong balls/sausages…you get the idea…
** The tomatoes give good flavour to the soup, so it’s OK to add more.

Method:
1. Soak the mi fen/bihun in water until it’s soft.
2. Boil some water in a pot. You can use a bowl to measure how much is needed. E.g. if you’re cooking for 1 person, then 1 bowl of water will do.
3. When the water is boiling, put in garlic and tomatoes. Mash the tomatoes a bit.
4. Add in cabbage, carrots, chicken balls and mi fen/bihun.
5. Add in salt, sugar, soya sauce and pepper according to your preference. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until mi fen/bihun is soft.
6. It’s ready to be served. Dig in!

Stir Fried Angel Hair Pasta

*Thanks to Maggie for sharing the idea on cooking this lovely pasta.

Ingredients:
Angel Hair pasta
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Capsicum
Tomatoes
Sausage (optional)
Basil or mixed herbs (those bottled ones which you can find in supermarkets)
Salt
Soya sauce
Olive oil
Water

Ingredients:
1. Cook angel hair pasta in boiling water according to packet’s instruction/ until soft. Add some salt while cooking the pasta.
2. Drain the pasta in a bowl and mix in some olive oil.
3. In a wok/pan (use non-stick pan if you have one), heat some olive oil and brown the garlic slices.
4. Stir in chopped onions and stir fry till fragrant.
5. Add in carrot, capsicum and sausage (optional).
6. Put some salt and soya sauce to taste.
7. Mix in the pasta and stir fry using low heat.
8. Add in the tomatoes and herbs.
9. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes and it’s ready!

Stir Fried Macaroni with Vegetables

Ingredients:
Macaroni
Broccoli
Onion
Sausage
Carrot
Ground black pepper
Garlic
Salt
Oil
Water
*How much to use? You agak-agak la...




Method:
1. Boil some water, cook macaroni according to packet's instruction. Add a little bit of salt into the water.
2. Dish up the cooked macaroni in a bowl. Add in some oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
3. In a pan or wok, heat some oil and brown garlic.
4. Add in chopped onions and stir fry for 1-2minutes.
5. Add in carrots and broccoli and sausage. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
6. Put a dash of black pepper and salt.
7. Add in the macaroni. Stir fry it for 2-3 minutes and serve.