Memories in the Cooking

The cousins are over for afternoon tea. This popian spread is easy to make and it can feed a crowd.  Ingredients: - prawns, boiled and halved  - beansprouts, boiled  - coral lettuce, washed and chopped  - 2 large turnips, cut into shreds  - 5 eggs, hard-boiled and cut into small pieces  - crushed peanuts  - fried shallots mixed with crushed potato chips  - sweet black sauce  - chili sauce  - garlic sauce (minced garlic with sesame oil and salt)  - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce  - 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce - 1 chicken cube  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - pepper  - minced garlic  - 1 packet of spring roll skin  Procedures: 1) Add minced garlic and vegetable oil to the frying pan. Fry until fragrant. Add shredded turnip. Add light soya sauce, oyster sauce, chicken cube, sugar, pepper and one cup of water. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.  2) Assemble the popiah with the other ingredients. Enjoy....

I love this gooey baked cheese on salad. Yummy! Ingredients: - Camembert or Brie (125g each)  - olive oil  - honey - mixed herbs - vinegar  - truffle oil Procedures: 1) Cut the cheese into 2 halves 2) Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle herbs.  3) Bake for 10-15 mins at 180 degree celsius. 4) Place the cheese on a bed of salad. Drizzle with honey, vinegar and truffle oil. 

We brought this starter to a New Year Eve Dinner Party tonight. We prepared the cream cheese spread and assembled it at the party. So here you are, last dish of the Year 2020. A starter dish recipe to end the year.  Ingredients: - 1 box of cracker  - 150g of cream cheese  - 2 tablespoons of pickled cucumber  - lemon juice from half a lemon  - 1 clove of garlic, minced  - 100g of smoked salmon with dill  Procedures: 1) Mix cream cheese with pickled cucumber, lemon juice and minced garlic.  2) Spread the cream cheese mix on a piece of cracker and top up with a piece of smoked salmon. 

After a tiring day, it is really great to have a refreshing Vietnamese Salad.  Ingredients: - 1 carrot, shredded - 2 zucchini, shredded  - juice of 2-3 Thai Lime  - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce  - 1 teaspoon of sugar - crushed peanuts  Procedures: 1) Mix everything together in a mixing bowl.  2) Serve it on a serving plate. 

This fish soup is similar to a chowder. It has so much ingredients that it can be eaten as a meal.  Ingredients: - 300g of salmon, cut into cubes  - 2 carrots, diced  - 2 russet potatoes, diced - 2 stalks of leeks, diced  - 1 cup of milk  - 1 cup of fish stock (or dissolve 2 fish cubes in water) - 1 can of nestle cream  Procedures: 1) In a pan, add vegetable oil and fry leek until caramelized.  2) Add carrots and potatoes and fry until soft.  3) Add fish stock and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  4) Add cream and milk. Mix well.  5) Add salmon and turn off the fire. Let the salmon poach for 15 mins until cooked. Serve. 

This is a yummy starter. The sauce goes well with freshly baked bread too!  Ingredients: 1) Potatoes or sweet potatoes (mashed or cube)  2) 4 Chorizos, sliced  3) 1 tablespoon of paprika  4) 1 teaspoon of salt 5) 1 chili, chopped  6) 1 bulb of garlic, minced 7) olive oil Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, fry potatoes until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Set aside.  2) Add about 2 tablespoon of olive oil to frying pan. Heat it up. Add minced garlic, chopped chili, paprika and salt. Fry until fragrant.  3) Add chorizo slices and fry until cooked.  4) Add potatoes. Mix well and serve.  

I watched this Jamie Oliver's recipe on TLC yesterday and decided to try my hand on it since I have all the ingredients in the fridge.    Ingredients: - Salad veg, washed  - 2 oranges  - 2 tablespoons for balsamic vinegar - 2 tablespoons of olive oil  - 1 tablespoon of honey  - 1 blocks of cheese (e.g. goat cheese, wesleydale cheese)  - a handful of nuts (e.g. almond, walnuts) Procedures:  1) In a salad serving plate, add the juice of one orange, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey.  2) Add the salad vegetables to the sauce. Toss well.  3) Crumble some cheese to it.  4) Chop the nuts and scatter on the salad. 5) Add orange slices to the salad. Serve.  

Today, we harvested a little bunch of dill from our dill pot. This bunch was too little for cooking, so we decided to make a pesto. This is a little step towards our "garden-to-table" effort.   Ingredients: - a little bunch of dill  - juice from a quarter lemon  - 2 tablespoons of olive oil - 2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts  - 1 clove of garlic  - a few olives  - salt  Procedures: 1) Add dill, lemon juice, olive oil, pine nuts, olives and garlic to blender. Blend into a paste. 2) Add salt to taste. Serve with crackers.  * I tried using sunflower seeds to substitute pine nuts and it tastes just as good! 

I had a can of black olives and a pack of cream cheese and don't know what to do with them. So, this is a result of a little experiment in my kitchen. My family loves it!  Ingredients: - 1 can of black olives (around 25) - 1 clove of garlic  - 100g of cream cheese  - salt  - paprika  Procedures:  1) Place black olives, garlic, cream cheese in a blender. Blend into a smooth paste.  2) Adjust the taste with salt.  3) Transfer into a serving dish. Garnish with chopped olives and a sprinkle of paprika. 

In our recent trip to Kaoshiung, we visited a tea plantation and experienced plucking and roasting tea leaves. While our tea leaves was roasting away, our host treated us to some homemade Chinese Tea Eggs. So, we asked the host to share his recipe with us and here it is! Ingredients: - 10 eggs - 3 tablespoons of black tea leaves - 3 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce - 1 cinnamon stick - 2 anistars - 1 teaspoon of salt Procedures: 1) Cook eggs in boiling water for 7 minutes. Crack the eggs shells but do not peel off the shells. 2) In a pot, place the boiled eggs and top up water just enough to cover it. 3) Add black tea leaves and seasonings. Let it cool for 1 hour until small fire. 4) Serve immediately or continue to soak it in the tea solution.

My recent trip to Kaoshiung has made me fall in love with cold dishes. This pickled papaya was one of my favourites. It took my a while to realise that it is papaya and not pumpkin. Depending on ripeness of the papaya, the dish can be orange or white in colour. Ingredients: - a small unripe papaya, cut into thin slices  - 2 cups of rice vinegar  - 1.5 cups of sugar  - 3 tablespoons of salt  - 1 chili, cut into floret  Procedures: 1) Place the papaya slices into a large mixing bowl. Add salt and mix well. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.  2) Meanwhile heat up the vinegar and dissolve the sugar.  3) Wash the salt off the papaya slices. It may need a few rounds of rinsing.  4) Place the papaya slices in a glass container. Pour the vinegar-sugar mixture to it and make sure the papaya slices are covered.  5) Add chili floret to the papaya slices. Let it sit for at least 2 hours. Serve. 

Another yummy cold dish that I brought back from my Taiwan trip - Chinese Smashed Cucumber. Ingredients: - 2 zucchinis - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - 1 tablespoon of sugar - half a teaspoon of salt - 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar - 3 cloves of garlic, minced - white sesame seeds Procedures: 1) Cut each zucchinis lengthwise into 4 pieces. Smash it with the back of the chopper until it breaks up. Place it in the serving plate. 2) Add the seasonings and minced garlic. Mix well. 3) Sprinkle with white sesame seeds.

This is a simple and yummy appetizer. Ingredients: - 2 cans of topshells, cut into bite-size - 1 red onion, sliced - juice from 200g of lime - 1 tablespoon of sugar - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 pinch of salt - 2 large chili, sliced - few stalks of coriander, chopped Procedures: 1) Place the topshells on a serving plate. Drain away the sauce that comes with the can. 2) Add onion slices, chili slices and all seasonings. Mix well. 3) Top it up with coriander. Serve.

We had this dish at a Lebanese restaurant during a Langkawi trip. I left an impression on us for its creaminess. So, I decided to make it for my eldest boy's birthday. Ingredients: - 1 can of cooked chickpeas - 2 tablespoons of olive oil - a pinch of salt - 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds Procedures: 1) Heat up canned chickpeas in hot water. Drain the hot water away. 2) Place the chickpeas in a blender. Add olive oil, 2 tablespoons of water, salt and cumin. Blend it until it forms a smooth paste. 3) Place in on a serving dish. Add more olive oil and some paprika. Serve with crackers.

We know egg salad. What about placing the egg salad on a slice of baguette serve it as a canape? Ingredients: - 5 chicken eggs, hard-boiled  - 2 loaves of baguette, sliced - 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise  - 1 tablespoon of mustard sauce  - 3 slices of bacon - rocket leaves  - pepper  Procedures: 1) Lay the sliced baguette on an oven tray. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 180 degree celsius for 5 minutes.  2) Pan-fry bacon until crispy. Cut into small pieces.  3) In a mixing bowl, add hard-boiled eggs. Mash the eggs. Add bacon, mayonnaise, mustard and pepper. Mix well.  4) Add the egg salad on each slice of baguette.  5) Garnish each slice by adding a rocket leaf. Serve. 

We first ate this dish at Black Penny Pub. Loved it, recreated it! Ingredients: - 1 whole butternut pumpkin - salt, sugar, paprika Procedures: 1) Slice butternut pumpkin lengthwise. 2) On each slice, sprinkle some olive oil, salt, sugar and paprika. 3) Bake at 160 degree celsius for 1 hour. Flip over half way through the baking time. Serve.

This canape is simple and refreshing. Once again, I made the base using spring roll wrappers. Ingredients (make 30 small canapes): - 100g prawns, peeled and boiled -  1 Japanese cucumber, diced - 50g of cheery tomatos, quarter - 15 pieces of small spring roll wrapper, quartered - fresh spinach, cut into small pieces - 2 tablespoons mayonnaise - pepper - 1 tablespoon of fruit jam - 1 beaten egg Procedures: 1) Boil prawns and cool it to room temperature. Dice it. 2) Cut spring roll wrappers into quarter. 3) Using egg wash, combine 2 wrappers and place it on a cupcake mould to form the base. Bake it at 160 degree celsius for 5 minutes. 4) In a mixing bowl, combine prawns, cucumber, spinach, mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, lime juice and jam. Mix well. 5) Scoop a teaspoon of the salad on each of the mini spring roll cups. 6) Add a quarter of cherry tomato on each of the canape. Serve.

Chawanmushi is my elder boy's must-order dish at the Japanese resturants. As it is so easy to make, we occasionally have it at home too. Ingredients (for 6 chawanmushi) : - 3 eggs - 400 ml dashi stock/water - 6 pieces of tofu cubes - 6 pieces of chicken - 3 pieces of shitake mushrooms, sliced - spring onions, chopped - half a chicken cube - 1 tablespoon light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sugar - 1 tablespoon of sake - salt Procedures: 1) In 6 cups, add chicken pieces, tofu pieces and shitake mushroom slices. You may add other ingredients such as Japanese fish cakes, gingko nuts, carrots etc. 2) In a mixing bowl, beat up 3 eggs lightly. 3) In 400ml of dashi stock/water, add chicken cube, light soya sauce, sake, sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix well. 4) Gently mix the stock into the beaten eggs. Drain the egg mixture through a sieve. 5) Pour the egg mix into the cups. Sprinkle some spring onions. 6) Steam for 15 minutes, cover with kitchen towel. Serve.

Not all canned food are bad. Canned sandines and tunas have as much omega 3 oil and protein as the fresh ones. To get my kids to eat more of these nutritious fish, I stuffed them into tiny puffs made of dumpling skins. Ingredients: - 1 small can of sandines, mashed  - 1 small can of spicy tuna, mashed  - 2 packets of dumpling skins  - vegetable oil  Procedures: 1) Using 2 layers of dumpling skins, wrap a teaspoon of fish and make into puff with twisted rope pattern.  2) Coat it with vegetable oil. Indicate the spicy one with a red dot using food dye.  2) Bake it at 180 degree for 10 minutes at each side (20 minutes in total). Serve. 

My husband is the baker at home. And I often like to decide on the toppings. Being a fan of variety, I am happy to present to you this 3-in-1 Foccacia Bread! Ingredients:  - 500g of bread flour - 330 ml of water - 1 pack of yeast (around 11g) - salt - 1 teaspoon of mixed Italian herbs - 1 pack of cherry tomatoes - 1 pack of fresh basil leaves - 1 tablespoon of olive oil - topping 1: steamed Japanese sweet potato and cream cheese - topping 2: cherry tomatos and garlic - topping 3: sauteed onions Procedures: 1) Mix flour, herbs and a pinch of salt together. Add olive oil to the flour. 2) Add yeast into 300 ml of room temperature water (30 degree celsius). When yeast bubbles, add it to the flour and knead the mixture into a dough. Let the dough rest for 1 hour. 3) Add some flour to a baking tray. Pull out the dough on to the baking tray. Make some indentations on the dough. Drizzle some olive oil on the dough. 4) Add 3 different toppings into the dough. ...