Memories in the Cooking

BBQ Pork Ribs is a crowd-pleaser dish that deserves the centre-stage for a BBQ party. To make the preparation more manageable, the dish can be prepared in 2 stages. The first stage involves pre-cooking in the oven and the second stage involves adding smokiness to the pork ribs by grilling it over BBQ fire. Ingredients: - 1 stab of pork ribs (500g to 1kg) - 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce - 1 tablespoon of salt - 2 tablespoon of paprika - 1 tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs - black pepper Procedures: 1) Wash and pat dry the pork ribs. 2) Season it with olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs and paprika. 3) Wrap it up with aluminium foil. Bake it at 180 degree celsius for 1 hour. 4) During BBQ, unwrap the pork ribs from the aluminium foil and grill it over fire for about 10 minutes while spreading BBQ sauce generously on the pork ribs. Serve. OR Unwrap the aluminium foil, spread BBQ sauce generously on the pork ribs, bake it uncovered at 180 degree celsius for another 15 minutes. S...

This cream of tomato soup is an unexpected success! My children and hubby gave it an average rating of 10 out of 5 (this is not a typo)! Like my other western soup recipes, I use potatos to achieve the creaminess. This is definitely more healthy than using solely cream.  Ingredients: - 4 large tomatos, choppped  - 5 Russet potatos, chopped - 1 can of nestle all purpose cream  - 1 onion, diced - 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs  - 1 chicken cube  - 1 can of pastata  - salt, sugar, pepper  Procedures: 1) In a pot, add some vegetable oil and fry diced onions until fragrant. Add the pastata and mix well.  2) Add chopped tomatos and potatos and fry until slightly soft.  3) Add water until it just slightly covers the ingredients. Let the soup boil for 20 minutes.  4) Blend the soup with a hand blender.  5) Boil the soup over small fire. Add cream, herbs, chicken cube, salt, sugar and pepper. Mix well. S...

This pizza is packed with 3 super nutritious ingredients that are high in calcium, vitamins and minerals - sandines, spinach and cheese. Sandines and spinach also happen to be two of the less-liked food of my children. However, when I put them on pizza base and top it up with cheese, magic happens! My kids actually stuff a lot of it into their system! That is why I call this Super Pizza. Ingredients: - 1 large can of sandines in tomato sauce (425g size) - 3 small pizza bases (8 inch) - spinach (70g) - 125g of mozarella cheese - parmesan cheese Procedures: 1) Mash the sandines in its tomato sauce. Spread generously on each of the 3 pizza bases. 2) Top up with spinach as generously as possible. 3) Top up with mozarrella cheese as generously as possible. 4) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes. 5) Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve.

I am in the midst of collecting some recipes suitable for weekdays. These recipes should ideally take less than 30 minutes to prepare or can be prepared in advance during the weekends. Herbal Drunken Chicken seems to fit the second criteria. It only required 5 minutes to assemble before the meal. Ingredients: - 2 chicken boneless thighs - 6 slices of ginseng - a handful of wolfberries - 1 chicken cube - a handful of red dates - 3-4 pieces of Yu Zhu - 2 tablespoons of fish sauce - 1 cup of hua tiao wine - salt, sugar, sesame oil Procedures: 1) Sprinkle a little salt on each of the chicken boneless thighs. Roll them up and wrap them each with a piece of aluminium foil. 2) Cook them in a boiling pot of water for 25 minutes. 3) In a separate pot, add about 4 cups of water, a chicken cube, ginseng, wolfberries, red dates and Yu Zhu. Bring it to boil. 4) Transfer the herbal stock to a storage container. Add fish sauce and hua tiao wine. 5) Unwrap the cooked chicken thigh...

I was pleasantly surprised to find mentaiko sacs at the sushi section of the NTUC at Thomson Plaza. It was sold at an affordable price of $5 plus for 2 sacs! With my proud purchase, I decided to make Creamy Mentaiko Spaghetti for lunch. Ingredients: - 2 mentaiko sacs  - stored bought marinated Japanese seaweed  - all purpose cream  - milk  - 100g of mozzarella cheese  - salt  - spaghetti - 1 bulb of garlic, minced - 1 onion, diced  - crispy shredded seaweed Procedures:  1) Boil spaghetti in boiling water.  2) Remove the mentaiko fish roe from the sacs.  3)  To a frying pan, add vegetable oil and fry garlic and onions until fragrant.  4) Add cream and 1 cup of milk. Add mozarella cheese to make a cheesy creamy sauce. Add 3/4 of the mentaiko. Season with a little salt.  5) Add cooked spaghetti to the sauce and mix well.  6) Serve the spaghetti with some more mentaiko, baked mis...

It is our family tradition to watch televised national day parade while enjoying a home feast of Singaporean dishes. The centre-piece of our feast is Fish Head Curry! Ingredients: - 1 fish head - 2 large brinjals, cut into chunks - 6 lady fingers, cut into chunks - deep fried beancurd skin - 3 tomatoes, quartered   - 2 stalks of lemon grass  - 12 shallots  - 1 bulb of garlic - 4 large chili - 1 thumb-size ginger - 2 tablespoon of tumeric powder - 2 tablespoon of fish curry powder - 3 sprigs of curry leaves - 1 packet of coconut milk - 2 tablespoons of assam paste - 1 thumb-size galangal - vegetables oil, salt and sugar Procedures: 1) Blend lemon grass, shallots, garlic, chilli, ginger, galangal with a little water. 2) To the blend, add tumeric powder, assam paste and curry powder. 3) In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil and fry the blended mixture until fragrant. Add curry leaves and 3 cups of water. Add vegetables and fry until soft....

Ngoh Hiang is an half-Teochew and half-Hokkien. Just like me. This is a dish that we often enjoy during family gatherings. Recently, mum has been lamenting that the 'outside' Ngoh Hiang has too much flour and too little 'real ingredients' (aka meat). So, I decided to make some with more 'real ingredients' at home for the national day feast. Ingredients: - 500g minced pork  - 300g minced prawns  - 350g chestnuts, chopped - 1 bulb of garlic, crushed  - 6 shallots, chopped - 1 egg - 2 packets of beancurd skin - 50g of flour - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 tablespoon of five spice powder - pepper - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil Procedures: 1) In a mixing bowl, mix together minced pork, minced prawns, chestnuts, garlic, shallots, egg, flour, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, five spice powder, pepper and sesame oil. 2) Wipe each beancurd skin with wet cloth to remove the salt. Cut it into 8 pieces. Wrap ...

Claypot Rice is another Singaporean dish, suitable to be included into the menu of my National Day home feast. The rice cooker version is a fuss-free version if you do not have a claypot. Ingredients: - 4 sausages, sliced - dried mushrooms, sliced - dried fish, shredded - 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size - 1 packet of spring beans, sliced - 3 cups of rice, washed - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed - 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of sesame oil - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 tablespoon of sugar - 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine - 1 tablespoon of corn flour Procedures: 1)Put the rice to cook in a rice-cooker (1:1 for rice and water ratio) 2) Marinate chicken in dark soya sauce, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing wine and corn flour. 3) In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil and fry garlic until fragrant. Add chicken, dried mushrooms, spring beans, dried fish and sausages and fry unti...

I am embarking on an effort to collect my mummy's recipes. It is not an easy task as she does not have her recipes written down and she bases the quantities on her intuition. But I am sure that this endeavour is worthwhile as what I am collecting are not mere recipes but also wonderful memories. This dish, shallots steamed chicken wings, is one of my favourites when I was kid. Ingredients: - 1 kg of chicken mid wings - 4 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 2 tablespoon of sesame oil - 3 tablespoons of hua tiao wine - pepper - 6 shallots, chopped - spring onions and parsley, chopped for garnish Procedures: 1) Marinate chicken wings and shallots with light soya sauce, sesame oil, hua tiao wine and pepper for 30 minutes. 2) Arrange on a steaming plate and steam for 30 minutes. 3) Garnish with spring onions and parsley. Serve.

In the past, I didn't know what to do with the whipped cream left over from the making of cheesecakes. Recently, I chanced upon an easy method to make ice-cream from whipped cream. No ice-cream machines needed! So, I used this method to make Macadamia Nut Brittle Vanilia Ice-cream. Yummy! Why this flavour? It is because it is hubby's and my favourite Haagen Dazs ice-cream since our dating days, which was 17 years ago! Ingredients: - 650g of whipping cream - 3/4 can of condensed milk - 3 tablespoons of rich, natural vanilla paste - 250g of roasted macadamia nuts - 3/4 cup of caster sugar - 1/4 cup of water - 80 g of butter Procedures: 1) In a pot, add caster sugar and water. Heat it until the sugar caramelized. 2) Add butter and stir to get a thickened sauce. Add macadamia nuts and mix well. 3) Spread the caramelized macadamia on a tray and let it cool and solidify. 4) Whisk the whipping cream until thickens and soft peaks form. Add condensed milk and vanilla...

For a working mother, time with family is very limited and precious. Hence, I would rather invest my time on people (i.e. engaging the kids) rather than administration (i.e grocery shopping). To save time on grocery shopping, I will purchase ingredients that could be stocked up for months from wholesalers online. For this recipe, we got the capsicum pesto from Melvados. Ingredients:   - 1 onion, diced  - 1 bulb of garlic, crushed  - preferred vegetables (i.e. zucchini or brown mushrooms) - red capsicum pesto  - salt, pepper - 1 pack of pasta  - 1 pack of mixed seafood - parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese  Procedures: 1) Boil pasta in a pot.   2) In a frying pan, add onions and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant. Add vegetables and mixed seafood and stir fry until cooked. Add pesto, salt, pepper, parmeasan cheese, mozarella cheese and some water from the pasta pot.  3) Add the cooked pasta and toss it with the sauce...