Memories in the Cooking

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. 

Korean Japchae is packed with lots of vegetables. Hence, it is a good dish to get the kids to eat more greens. Ingredients: - 1 red capsicum, cut into shreds - 1 onion, sliced - 3 cloves of garlic, minced - 200g of shitake mushrooms, cut into shreds - spring onions, cut into shreds - 1 carrot, cut into shreds - 250g of minced beef - 1 packet of Korean sweet potato starch noodles - 4 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 3 tablespoons of sesame oil - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 3 tablespoons of white sesame seeds Procedures: 1) Marinate beef with light soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper. 2) Cook noodles in boiling water until soft. Rinse it in cold water. 3) In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil and fry onions and garlic until fragrant. 4) Add minced beef and fry until brown. 5) Add red capsicum, spring onions, carrots, mushrooms and fry until soft. 6) Add noodles and stir well. 7) Season with light soya sauce, sesame oil and sugar. 8) Sprinkle with white sesame see

Another dish that I fell in love with during my Chengdu-Sichuan trip is Chili Oil Dumplings. To my delight, I realise it is getting easier to spot this dish in Singapore these days. Ingredients: - 50 dumpling skins (about 2 packets)  - 500g of minced pork  - 1 packet of spring onions, chopped  - 1 stalk of chinese leeks, chopped  - 1 onion, diced  - 2 tablespoons of lao gan ma chili - 2 tablespoons of black vinegar  - 3 tablespoons of light soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of hua tiao wine  - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil  - 1 tablespoon corn flour  - pepper, salt, sugar  Procedures: 1) Mix minced pork, spring onions, leeks, onions, light soya sauce, hua tiao wine, sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of sugar, corn flour, some salt and pepper. Add 3 tablespoons of water. Stir and 'beat' the meat patty until it is not watery.  2) Wrap the meat in dumpling skin in the shape of "chinese official hat".  3) Cook the dumplings in boiling water. Place the cooked

This is another 'ang-mo' soup to add to my 'ang-mo' soup collection. Pumpkins are sweet and high in beta-carotine. As such, pumpkin soup is good for both your eyesight and tastebuds! Ingredients: - 1/4 pumpkin, cut into chunks - 3 potatos, cut into chunks - 1 chicken cube - 1 onion, diced - 1 can of all purpose cream - 1 tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs - pepper Procedures: 1) In a pot, add a little oil and fry garlic and onion until fragrant. 2) Add pumpkin and potato and fry a little. 3) Add 4 large bowls of hot water and let the soup simmer until the pumpkin and potato are soft. 4) Blend the soup using a hand blender. 5) Season the soup with chicken cube, herbs and pepper. 6) Add cream and stir well. Serve.

I love anything that is meat wrapped in pastry - curry puff, prawn dumpling soup, chicken pie, wanton soup, siew mai, meat bun and gyoza. So, this dish is dedicated to me. Ingredients: - 50 dumpling skins (2 packets) - 250g of minced pork - half napa cabbage, chopped - shredded carrots - 1/2 onions, diced - 2 tablespoons soya sauce - 1 tablespoon corn starch - 1 tablespoon sesame oil - grated ginger - 1 tablespoon of miso paste - pepper - vegetable oil - shredded ginger - Chinese black vinegar Procedures: 1) Add minced pork, cabbage, carrots, soya sauce, miso paste, sesame oil, corn flour, pepper and 3 tablespoons of water to a big bowl. Stir and 'beat'the meat patty until it is not watery. 2) Wrap the meat filling with the dumpling skins into 'crescent-moon shape'. 3) Drizzle vegetable oil in a hot pan. 4) Place gyoza on the hot pan. 5) Stir 1 tablespoon corn flour in one-quarter cup of water. Add to the gyoza. Cover the gyoza with the pan c

Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork is another common home-cooked dish. This recipe is inspired by my mother who loves to mix carrots and shallots into meat patty to give it some natural sweetness. Ingredients: - 2 blocks of soft tofu - 250g of minced pork - half a carrot, shredded - 4 dried mushrooms, soaked and diced - 3 shallots, diced - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - dark soya sauce - white pepper - corn flour - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce Procedures: 1) Cut each block of tofu into 6 slices and place them on a steaming plate. 2) Place minced pork, mushrooms and carrots into a mixing bowl. Add light soya sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and 1 tablespoon of corn flour. Mix well. 3) Place about a spoonful of meat patty on top of each slice of the tofu. 4) Steam until the meat is cooked. Transfer the tofu to a serving plate. 5) Transfer any liquid from the steaming plate to a saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of water, oyster sauce, dark soya

This is an old-time favourite side dish that goes well with teochew porridge. My elder son, who loves all kinds of sausages, requests to have this dish for tonight's teochew porridge dinner. Ingredients: - 4 lap cheong (Chinese sausages), sliced - 6-7 shallots, sliced - 4 eggs, beaten - spring onions - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - pepper Procedures: 1) Add a little vegetable oil to a frying pan. Add shallots and fry until fragrant. 2) Add lap cheong and stir fry for a while. Set it aside. 3) Beat 4 eggs together. Mix the beaten eggs with spring onions, light soya sauce and pepper. 4) Fry the beaten eggs in the frying pan. Add shallots and lap cheong back to the frying pan. Stir well and serve.

Find steamed fish too bland? Aromatics such as fried ginger and garlic give this dish its rich flavour and wonderful fragrance.  Ingredients: - 4-5 slices of fish (e.g. pacific cod) - 4 pieces of ginger - 1 palm-size ginger, shredded - 1 bulb of garlic, sliced - few stalks of spring onions, shred lengthwise - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sugar - 1 tablespoon of hua tiao wine - some sesame oil Procedures: 1) Lay the fish on a steaming plate with 4 ginger slices on it. Steam for 10-15 minutes. 2) Fry ginger shreds and garlic slices separately until golden brown. 3) Mix light soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil and hua tiao wine. 4) Lay the steamed fish on a serving plate. Pour away the fish sauce. Pour the mixed seasoning on the fish. Sprinkle ginger shreds, garlic slices and spring onions on the fish. 5) Drizzle with some hot vegetable oil. Serve.

Nonya Chap Chye originated with the intention to reduce food wastage by composing a dish out of leftover vegetables. For us, it is the to-cook dish when we do not know what to do with some leftover round cabbage. With dried vegetables (e.g. black fungus, mushrooms) always in our food cupboard, we can easily whip up some Nonya Chap Chye. This dish is so versatile that you can add leftover meat to this dish too!    Ingredients: - half round cabbage, cut into strips - 1 carrot, cut into thin slices - a handful of black fungus, soaked, softened, cut into thin slices - 5 dried mushrooms, soaked, softened, cut into thin slices - 100g of taukee, soaked, softened, cut into think slices - 100g of rice vermicelli, soaked and soften - 1 handful of dried scrimps, washed - 1 tablespoon of fermented beanpaste - a few fermented beancurd cubes  - 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced - sugar, pepper Procedures: 1) Add a little v

We are having a BBQ gathering. I have decided to make my sambal belacan from scratch for the Sambal Sotong and Sambal Stingray. Ingredients:  - 1kg of sotong or prawns or stingray - 1 tablespoon of belacan  - 1 tablespoon of salt (adjust to preference) - 2 tablespoon of sugar (adjust to preference) - 8 dried chilis  - 4 large chilis - 3 stalks of lemongrass  - 8 shallots - 4 cloves of garlic - 1 thumb-size ginger - 1 tablespoon tamarind with water - limes  Procedures: 1) Blend chilis, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, tamarind water and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a paste.  2) In a frying pan, dry toast the belacan. Set it aside.  3) Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the frying pan, add chili paste and belacan and fry until it turns dark brown. Add salt and sugar to taste.  4a) For sotong or prawns: add sotong or prawns and flash fry it until just cooked.  4b) For BBQ stingray: Place the sambal paste on the stingrays. Cov

We all knew the scene from the Korean drama - the well-dressed male lead and female lead went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. They each wrapped BBQ pork belly slices in lettuce and shoved the whole bundles in their mouths. While it the image seemed mismatching to their impeccable appearance, it certainly made Korean Bulgogi Pork Belly look so irresistible. Ingredients: - 500g slices of pork belly - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - 1 thumb-size ginger, grated - 1 bulb of garlic, grated - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1/2 Chinese brown pear (shui li), grated - 2 tablespoons of Korean spicy soya bean paste - sliced garlic - corn starch  - coral lettuce  Procedures: 1) In a ziplock bag, mix pork belly with light soya sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sugar and pear. Marinate it over night. 2) Grill the pork belly over BBQ fire or griddle pan until cook. Cut them into bite-size.  3) Reduce the rest of the marinate to form a sauce. Add corn starch if

Pan-fried Ginger Fish is another of my favourite confinement food which we have corporated into our everyday menu. The best fish to use is the super expensive Cod Fish, which I often do not have the heart to buy. So, I use golden pomfret instead. Ingredients: - 1 whole fish  - a lot of ginger, shredded  - 2 tablespoon of soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine  - 1 teaspoon of sesame oil  - 2-3 tablespoon of water  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - pepper  - parsley as garnish  Procedures: 1) Wash and pat dry the fish. Coat it thinly with corn flour. Pan fry the fish until the skin is crispy and the fish is cooked. Set it aside on a serving plate.  2) Fry the shredded ginger in the same oil. When it turns brown, remove it from the pan and arrange on top of the fish.  3) In a bowl, add soya sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, water and sugar. Mix well and drizzle over the fish and ginger. Garnish and serve. 

While I love having children, I dislike the pregnancy period and the confinement period. The only thing I like about the confinement period is the food. The ginger, sesame oil and wine concoction is so heartwarming. Steamed Chicken in Ginger Sauce is one of my favourite confinement food. My husband says that the taste (not the look) reminds him of his grandmother's Hakka Wine Chicken. Ingredients: - 1 chicken thigh meat, cut into bite-size pieces  - 4 cloves of minced garlic - a lot of minced ginger  - 1 tablespoon of corn flour  - 2 tablespoons of shaoxing wine - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce   - 2 tablespoons of sesame oil  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sugar - salt   - parsley for garnishing  Procedures: 1) Marinate chicken with cornflour, wine, shaoxing wine and a pinch of salt (best to marinate overnight).  2) Blend minced ginger and garlic separately.  3) Add a little sesame oil and vegetable oil to a frying pan.

Making mooncakes is like doing crafts. So, once a year, I will get the boys to make mooncakes with me and masquerade it as craft time. This year, we make 4 flavours of mooncakes together. Flavour 1: Traditional Baked Mooncake with Lotus Paste and Single Yolk.  Ingredients for 10 mooncakes:  - 350g of flour  - 65g of peanut oil  - 250g of golden syrup  - 1.5 tablespoon of alkaline water  - 750g of lotus paste  - 10 salted egg yolks - 50g of melon seeds  Procedures:  1) Sieve and mix flour, golden syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water. Make it into a dough. Cover it with cling wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes.  2) Coat salted egg yolks with sesame oil. Steam it for 5 minutes.  3) Mix melon seeds into lotus paste. Split it into 10 portions. Roll them into balls.  4) Split the dough into 10 portions. Roll them into balls.  5) Wrap a salted egg into each lotus paste ball. Flatten the dough on a baking paper and cover the lotus paste ball with th

My younger son loves Siew Mai. He wants Siew Mai for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These Siew Mai are made from 'real ingredients' with little flour. While they taste better than the usual Kopitiam Siew Mai, they are drier than my favourite from Nam Kee. Maybe I should use minced pork with more fats. Ingredients: - 250g of deshelled prawns, minced - 250g of minced pork - 8 chestnuts, minced - 1 tablespoon of corn flour - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - pepper - 1 stalk of spring onions, chopped - 15 dumping skin (yellow, round) - wolfberries for garnish - vegetable oil Procedures: 1) Mix prawns, pork, chestnuts, spring onions, corn flour, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of water and pepper. 2) Wrap the mixture  in dumpling skin into the shape of Siew Mai. Add wolfberries as garnish. Brush it with vegetable oil. 3) Steam for 15 minutes. Serve.

It is one of my late  maternal grandmother's dishes. It is so easy to cook and can be cooked within 15 minutes. Caixin Pork is best eaten with porridge. Yummy!  Ingredients: - 1 can of caixin - 250g of sliced pork - 1 tablespoon of corn flour - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce Procedures: 1) Marinate the sliced pork with corn flour and light soya sauce. 2) In a frying pan, add vegetable oil. Stir-fry the sliced pork until it is half-cooked. 3) Add a can of caixin. Cook until the pork is fully cooked. Serve.

According to my dad, I am a quarter of a little Nonya. My late paternal grandmother was one and she was always in Nonya Kebaya and cooked Peranakan food. It is a pity that I have never seen her before. Thankfully, I could catch a taste of her home-cooked food through the recipes that are passed on. This Nonya Beanpaste Steamed Fish is one of her signature dishes. Ingredients: - 1 whole white pomfret - 1 large chili - 1 thumb-size ginger - 1 large onion or 3-4 shallots - 8 cloves of garlic - 1 tablespoon of beanpaste - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce - 2 teaspoons of sugar - spring onions for garnishing Procedures: 1) Blend chili, ginger, onion, garlic, beanpaste, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar into a paste. 2) In a frying pan, add oil and fry the paste until thick and fragrant. 3) Spread the beanpaste mix on the bottom and top of the fish. 4) Steam it for 20 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) until just cooked. Gar