Memories in the Cooking

It has been rainy every day these days. Wouldn't it be nice to have a hot bowl of noodles soup to warm up the body? I have decided to make beef noodles soup, one of my husband's favourite dishes.   Ingredients: - 1 kg of beef shin, sliced  - 300g of beef tendon, cubes  - a small radish or 2 yellow onions, sliced  - 4 tomatoes, wedged - 1 thumbsize of ginger, sliced - 1 tablespoon of fermented beanpaste  - 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 1 bulb of garlic, deskinned  - 5 anistar  - 3 bay leaves  - 1 chili, sliced - pepper  - salt - sugar  - vegetables  - parsleys - noodles (any preferred type)  Procedures:  1) In the slow cooker, place the beef shin, beef tendon, radish/onions and tomatoes.  2) Add dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, fermented beanpaste and pepper.  3) Add anistars, ginger, garlic, chili and bay leaves.  4) Add water until it almost covers the ingredients. Let it cook for 4-5 hours.  5) Add salt and sugar to adjust to desire

Today is my mother's birthday. What will be a good dish that can substitute red eggs? I decided to cook this Lion Head Meatballs with char siew sauce. Something that is round, red and yummy should not go wrong.  Ingredients: - 750g of minced pork  - 1 can of water chestnuts, minced  - 1 tablespoon of minced garlic - 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs - 2 eggs  - 1 teaspoon of salt - white pepper  - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce - 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - a few drops of red dye  Procedures: 1) In a mixing bowl, add minced pork, minced water chestnuts, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Mould into 6 big meatballs.  2) Arrange the meatballs on a baking tray. Spray with vegetable oil. Bake at 225 degree celsius for 20 minutes.  3) In a frying pan, add oyster sauce, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, sugar, red dye and half a cup of water.  4) When the sauce starts to boil, add the meatballs. Let the me

This is my favourite Japanese soup that I will order at any Japanese restaurants. This soup has the power to make a cold sushi meal end off on a warm satisfying note. Ingredients: - salmon fishhead - salt - pepper - corn flour - soft tofu, diced - 1 radish, sliced - 1 carrot, sliced - 2 tablespoons of miso paste - ginger, sliced Procedures: 1) Rub some salt, pepper and corn flour to the salmon fishhead. Set it aside. 2) To a pan, add some vegetable oil and fry the ginger slices until fragrant. 3) Place the salmon fish head, skin-side down, on the pan for 2-3 minutes. Flip the fish head to the other side and fry for another 2-3 minutes. (Can choose to grill in the oven too) 4) Add about 3 large bowls of hot water to the pan. 5) Add radish and carrot to the pan and boil it until soft. Add tofu. 6) Add 2 tablespoons of the miso paste to the soup. Stir well until the paste dissolve. Serve.

My baby boy, actually already 6 years old, likes sausages and pasta. This dish has both his favourite things. People say homecooked food is nourishing because the cook cooks it with love. I hope this dish will nourish his body and soul.  Ingredients:  - 4 good quality sausages, cut into bite-sizes - one pack of large spiral pasta  - a handful of dark olive  - a handful of pine nuts - 1 tablespoon of garlic, minced  - 1 tablespoon of olive oil  - salt and sugar  - 1 pack of spinach  Procedures: 1) Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Set it aside.  2) Blend olives, pine nuts and olive oil into a paste.   3) In a frying pan, fry the sausages until brown. Add minced garlic to the frying pan. Add the olive pesto. Fry for a while.  4) Add pasta and spinach into the sauce.  Mix well.  5) Add salt, sugar, pepper to taste. serve. 

To ensure my family gets the nutrition they need, I have been trying to introduce superfood into our homecooked food. This dish has 2 superfood - miso paste and wolfberries.  Ingredients: - 1 pack of vegetables  - 1 handful of wolfberries  - 1 tablespoon of miso paste  Procedures:  1) Dissolve miso paste in 1 cup of hot water. Add to a pan.  2) Bring the miso sauce to a boil with some wolfberries.  3) Add vegetables. Cook until it is soft. Serve. 

Hotplate Tofu is one zi char dish that we recreate at home. It may look difficult but it only involves 3 simple steps. Somehow, this dish has the ability to invite excitement when it bubbles its way from the kitchen to the dining table. Ingredients: - 2 tubes of egg tofu, each cut into 8 pieces - 250 minced pork - 4-5 stalks of spring onions, chopped - 3 eggs - 1 onion, diced - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - pepper - cornflour Procedures: 1) Coat sliced egg tofu with cornflour. Pan fry egg tofu until both sides are brown. Set it aside. 2) Stir fry some garlic and onions until fragrant. Add minced pork. Fry until it turns brown. Add a cup of water. Season with oyster sauce and pepper. Use corn starch to thicken the gravy. 3) In a hotplate or flat-base frying pan, add a little vegetable oil. Beat 2 eggs and pour it on the hot plate. Place the tofu on the eggs. Pour the minced meat sauce over it. Sprinkle with spring onions. Serve.

I realise we made Ice-cream every school break. So far, we had flavours such as coconut, lemon, mango, cookie-and-cream and macadamia nut brittle. This time round, we are making Passion Fruit Ice-cream.  Ingredients: - 500g of whipping cream - 8 passion fruits, extract the fresh  - 1 can of condensed milk  Procedures:  1) Whip the whipping cream into firm peaks.  2) Add condensed milk and whip to mix well.  3) Add half of the passion fruit fresh.  4) Place in the freezer over night.  5) Serve with more passion fruit fresh. 

The pork ribs recipe is from my mum who steams the pork ribs instead of braises it. I decided to braise it instead as it makes the pork ribs more tender.  Ingredients: - 500g of spare ribs  - 2 large tablespoons of minced garlic  - 1 packet of kuay teow  - 1 packet of beansprouts  - few stalks of parsleys and spring onions, chopped  - 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of fermented beanpaste  - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - 1 chili, chopped  - pepper - Chinese vinegar  Procedures:  1) Place the pork ribs into a slow cooker. Add minced garlic, dark soya sauce, beanpaste, sesame oil, pepper sugar and chopped chili. Cook it on high setting for 4 hours.  2) Blench kuay tiao and beansprouts. Place them in serving bowls. Top up with pork ribs and sauce.  3) Sprinkle some chopped parsleys and spring onions.  4) Drizzle some vinegar. Serve. 

This is another dish with a memory. My husband's nanny taught me this simple yet delicious beehoon. I really love the cruchy vegetables that go with this dish.  Ingredients:   - 1 large carrot, cut into shreds - 1 pack of french beans, chopped - 1 small round cabbage, cut into shreds - 4 eggs, beaten  - 1 pack of bee hoon, soak in salt water  - fried shallots  - fish sauce - mushroom sauce  - pepper  - sugar  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, heat some vegetable oil and fry omelette. Chop into small pieces.  2) Add minced garlic and fry until fragrant.  3) Add vegetables and fry until soft.  4) Drain bee hoon from salt water. Add to the fry pan. Fry until soft and well-mix with the ingredients. Add water if needed.  5) Season with mushroom sauce, fish sauce, sugar and pepper. Serve with fried shallots. 

I have some leftover peanuts from Peanut Lotus Soup. So, I have decided to make some Peanut Meatball Porridge.  Ingredients:  - 250g of minced meat  - leftover cooked peanuts  - 1.5 cup of rice  - 4 eggs  - fried shallots  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - pepper  - stock cube  - fish sauce  Procedures: 1) Place cooked peanuts and rice in rice cooker. Add sufficient water to cook porridge. Sieve the porridge if you like it more fine.  2) Marinate minced meat with light soya sauce and pepper. Shape them into meatballs.  3) In a pan, add a little water (or porridge water). When the water boils, add meatball. Boil until cooked. Add stock cube and let it dissolve.  4) Add porridge to the pan. Mix well. Adjust the porridge to taste using fish sauce.  5) Add eggs. Serve it with fried shallots.  

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  - salt  Procedures: 1) Add dill, lemon juice, olive oil, pine nuts 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! 

This is my attempt to make a special fettuccine, by adding some truffle oil and miso paste.  Ingredients: - 250g of fettuccine  - 900g of mussels  - 300g of brown mushrooms, sliced  - 1 onion, diced  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - 2 tablespoons of miso paste - truffle oil  - 1 can of Nestle cream  - truffle salt and pepper  Procedures:  1) Cook fettuccine in boiling water until al dente. 2) Add a little cooking oil in a frying pan. Add diced onion and garlic, fry until fragrant. Add mushroom and fry until soft.  3) Add 1 can of cream. Dissolve 2 tablespoon of miso in a cup of hot water. Add to the frying pan. 4) Add the mussels and mix well.  5) Add fettuccine and mix well with the sauce. Adjust the taste with truffle salt and pepper.  6) Serve the fettuccine on a plate. Drizzle a bit of truffle oil. 

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. 

Another Chinese soup that can be cooked in a slow cooker. Minimum effort and maximum comfort.  Ingredients:  - 500g of spare pork ribs - 1 packet of black beans (about 2 cups) - about 6 to 10 red dates  - 1 stock cube  - salt  Procedures:  1) Place pork ribs, black beans, red dates into slow cooker. Add water until it just covers the ingredients.  2) Cook for 6 hours at high setting.  3) Add stock cube and any salt (if needed) to taste. 

This dish is taught to me by my husband's nanny who he feels very indebted to. It is an unusual dish that looks like white carrot cake but tastes different.  Ingredients: - 1 pack of store-bought Chee Cheong Fun (about 3-4 tubes), cut into 1 inch piece.  - 4 eggs, beaten - sweet caipo (preserved radish), washed and drained off water. - 1 packet of parsley, chopped  - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced.  - salt, sugar  Procedures:  1) In a frying pan, add caipo and fry until dry. Add minced garlic and vegetables oil and fry until fragrant.  2) Add Chee Cheong Fun, fry until soft but retain the shape.  3) Add beaten eggs. Stir well to coat beaten eggs on Chee Cheong Fun.  4) Add parsley and stir well.  5) Add fish sauce and adjust the taste with any salt or sugar if needed.   

I am a full-time mum who tries to cook simple dinner during workdays. This dish is supposed to be very easy and fast. What's more? It is delicious!!! Ingredients: - 4 chicken drumsticks - 100 g of ginger  - 6 cloves of garlic  - few stalks of parsleys and spring onions  - 1 chili - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce  - 2 tablespoons of sesame oil  - 1 tablespoon of huatiao wine  - 2 cups of rice  - salt and sugar Procedures: 1) In a rice-cooker pot, add 2 cups of washed rice and add 1.5 cups of water.  2) Place the chicken drumsticks on the rice. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of huatiao wine and 1 light soya sauce. Start the rice cooker.  3) Blend ginger, garlic, parsleys and spring onions into a paste. Add 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of warm water, sugar and salt.  Mix well into a sauce. Add shredded chili. 

This dish is super nutritious with 2 bottles of chicken essence. I told my boy that traditionally PSLE top scorers advertised for chicken essence. In response, he asked to drink more of it. My husband replied in jest that, in reality, these top scorers only started drinking it AFTER their achievements not before.  Ingredients: - 500g of squids, washed - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - 1 tablespoon of huaxing wine - pepper - 2 cans of chicken essence  - 1 teaspoon of corn starch  - 1 onion, chopped  - 1 packet of parsley, chopped  Procedures: 1) After washing the squids. Chop the squid wings and heads and conbine with the onions and parsley. Season with light soya sauce, sesame oil, huatiao wine and pepper.  2) Stuff the mixture into the squid bodies. Place the squids on a steaming plate. Steam for 3-5 minutes.  3) Transfer the squids in a serving plate.  4) Transfer the sauce into a frying pan. Add chicken essence. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add suga

This is the slow-cooker version of my husband's favourite dish.  Ingredients: - 1 kg of potatoes, cut into slices  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - 700g of minced beef  - 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce  - 1 tablespoon of flour  - pepper  - parsleys, chopped  Procedures: 1) Place potatoes, minced beef, minced garlic, flour, oyster sauce into the slow cooker. Mix well.  2) Add water until it almost covers the ingredients.  3) Let it cook at high setting for about 4 hours.  4) Add pepper and parsleys.    

I love Braised Pork Trotters which are cooked until soft with meat falling out the bones. My favourite is the one at Ang Mo Kio Teck Gee Market. Today, I decided to try this easy-to-made slow cooker version.  Ingredients: - 1 pork trotter  - 1/2 cup of light soya sauce  - 1/2 cup of dark soya sauce  - 1/2 cup of huatiao wine  - 3 tablespoons of sugar  - 10 slices of ginger  - 3 bulbs of garlic  - 2 cinnamon sticks  - 3 anistars  - 10 pieces of cloves  - chinese parsley  Procedures: 1) In a slow cooker, add light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, huatiao wine, sugar, ginger slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and anistars.  2) Add pork trotters and marinate it thoroughly.  3) Add enough water to just cover the pig trotters. Add 3 bulbs of garlic.  4) Cook the pork trotters at high for 6 hours.  5) Serve the pork trotters with chinese parsley.  

I have no time to cook dinner tonight. What dish is as fast as instant noodles? A huge pot of Korean style instant noodles -Army Stew.  Ingredients:  - 1 can of Spam, slices  - sausages  - tofu or cheese tofu  - few slices of pork belly  - korean ramen  - few stalks of leeks, chopped  - 2 tablespoons of gochujang - chicken stock  Procedures: 1) Arrange the chopped leek at the base of a hotpot.  2) Arrange Spam slices, tofu, pork belly sausages along the sides of the pot.  3) Add chicken stock and gochujang until the ingredients are almost covered.  4) Heat the hotpot on a conduction hotplate.  5) When the soup boils, add instant noodles to the centre of the pot.  6) When the noodles are soft, add cheese on top of the noodles.  7) Crack an egg to the dish. Serve.  * I add gochujang to individual servings as my sons not able to handle the heat yet. 

This is a quintessential soup of any chinese household. This recipe requires minimum effort as the slow cooker does the cooking.  Ingredients: - 500g of pork ribs  - 300g of raw peanuts  - 1 dried cuttlefish, shredded - a handful of red dates - 2 stock cubes  - 1 lotus root, sliced  Procedures: 1) Add pork ribs, peanuts, cuttlefish, lotus roots and red dates to the slow cooker.  2) Add enough water to cover the ingredients.  3) Cook at high setting for 5 hours.  4) Add stock cubes. Serve. 

Lamb shank, my husband's favourite British/Irish pub food. One may think that lamb is too hearty to be eaten much at a time. However, this lamb shank is so off-the-bone tender that my family could easily wipe out a large portion within minutes. So, within minutes, what was left were bones and the warm satisfying contentment that one gets from having lamb. Ingredients: - 4 lamb shanks - 1 large onions, diced - 1 bulb of garlic, crushed - 1 carrot, diced - 4 sticks of celery, chopped - 2 tomatos, chopped - 1 can of pastata - 1 tablespoon of Italian mixed herbs - 1 stock cube - 2 tablespoons of sugar - pepper, salt  - 1 tablespoon of flour Procedures: 1) In a slow cooker, add lamb shank, chopped carrots, celery and onions. 2) Add pastata, stock cube, herbs, sugar, flour and pepper. 3) Add water until it just covers the ingredients.  4) Set the slow cooker at high. Cook for 6 hours. 5) Adjust the taste with salt. Serve.