Memories in the Cooking

I first had this at Fat Po. I thought it is quite easy to replicate and it is a change from Shakshuka. This dish is served with crusty baguette.  Ingredients: - 2 boneless chicken thigh meat, cut into small pieces  - 125g of brown mushrooms, sliced  - 125g of spinach  - 3 large onions, chopped - 3 cloves of garlic  - 1 cup of yogurt  - 1 cup of milk  - 2 chicken cubes - 1 cup of mozzarella cheese  - Italian mixed herbs  - 4 fresh eggs  Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, add some olive oil and pan fry chicken pieces until brown.  2) Add onions, garlic, mushroom and spinach and cook until soft.  3) Add chicken cube and mixed herbs. Stir well.  4) Add yogurt, milk and mozzarella chicken. Stir well.  5) When the dish is simmering, add 4 fresh eggs. Serve when the eggs are set. 

This is an economical way to make truffle sauce and Truffle Spaghetti.  Ingredients: - a pack of spaghetti - 3 packets of brown mushrooms (can include some shitake mushrooms too), blended - 2 chicken cubes - 1 clove of garlic, minced  - 2 tablespoons of truffle oil - parmesan cheese  - olive oil  - 1 can of nestle cream  Procedures: 1) Cook spaghetti as the packet instructions.  2) In a frying pan, add oil and fry gralic until fragrant.  3) Add blended mushrooms and fry until the mushroom juice dries up.  4) Add chicken cube, cream and truffle oil.  5) Add cooked spaghetti. Mix well. 6) Serve the spaghetti with parmesan cheese. 

My husband disapproves of processed food. This fish fingers are made from fresh Seabass fillets. I used Chinese marinates for this recipe.  Ingredients: - 2 Seabass fillets (about 250g each), cut into strips - 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce  - 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce  - 1 teaspoon of huatiao wine  - pepper  - 1 beaten egg - breadcrumbs  Procedures: 1) Marinate the fish strips with light soya sauce, oyster sauce, huatiao wine and pepper overnight.  2) Coat each strip with beaten eggs followed by breadcrumbs.  3) Cook the fish strips in 2 batches. Place them in an air-fryer. Spray vegetable oil on them. Air-fry them at 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes (turn over at halftime). 

The dish that I cooked for my first Food and Nutrition practical examination was Honey Lemon Chicken Wings. It was more than 2 decades ago. But I remember scoring high marks for it. I also remember savouring the wings with my friends at the staircase just outside the F&N lab. What lovely memories. Ingredients:  - 1kg of chicken mid-wings (around 25), wash and pat-dry - 1 egg, beaten - breadcrumbs - lemon juice from 2 lemons - 3 tablespoons of honey - 1 tablespoon of cornflour - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 3 cloves of garlic, minced.  Procedures: 1) Marinate the chicken wings with light soya sauce and garlic overnight. 2) Add a beaten eggs to the chicken wings and coat it evenly.  3) Coat the chicken wings with breadcrumbs.  4) Place the chicken wings on a baking tray. Bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken wings over and bake it at 225 degree celsius for another 15 minutes.  4) In a pan, heat up lemon juice...

This dish is so appetizing. My family licks off every single drop of the tangy and sweet sauce.  Ingredients: - 500g of pork chops - 3 cloves of garlic, minced  - 3 onions, sliced - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  Procedures: 1) Marinate pork chops in minced garlic and light soya sauce overnight.  2) Pan-fry pork chops until cooked.  3) Add onions to the frying pan and fry until soft.  4) Add the light soya sauce marinate, balsamic vinegar and sugar.  5) Simmer until the sauce thickens. Serve. 

It is wonderful to be able to source for fresh seafood. Recently, I have been ordering from Ah Hua Kelong and I am always very happy with the quality of the seafood. Today, we have some clams for Clams Linguine! Ingredients: - 1kg of fresh clams, soaked in water for a few hours  - 1 bulb of garlic, chopped  - 1 bunch of parsley, chopped  - 200g of streaky bacon, cut into small pieces - 1 packet of any type of mushroom, finely chopped  - 1 chili, chopped  - 1 stock cube  - 2 tablespoons of whiskey - half a packet of linguine  Procedures:  1) Cook the linguine as per the packet instruction.  2) In a frying pan, fry the bacon until brown with the fats rendered.  3) Add chopped garlic, chopped chili, parsley, mushrooms and fry a little.  4) Add some pasta water and let it simmer.  5) Add clams and fry until the clams are opened up.  6) Add whiskey and stock cube.  7) Add cooked linguine. Stir well and serve. 

The Husband bought 1kg of salmon sashimi from Fassler for a small family of four! After using 2/3 of it to make Salmon Pokebowl, we are still left with a stab of it. So, we decided to make Salmon Ceviche with Asian Lemon Olive Oil Dressing.  Ingredients: - 350g of sashimi-grade salmon, sliced  - lemon juice from 1 lemon  - 2 teaspoons of sugar  - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce  - 1 tablespoon of olive oil  - parsley, finely chopped  - a handful of raisins, chopped Procedures:  1) Arrange the sliced salmon on a plate. Place it back to the fridge.  2) In a mixing bowl, add lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, fish sauce and raisins. Mix well. Leave it for 1 hour.  3) Drizzle the dressing over the salmon slices. Serve. 

This is my invention! I believe many of us are familiar with Thai Basil Pork and Snail Sausages separately. This recipe combines both together!  Ingredients:  - 500g of minced pork  - thai basil, chopped  - 2 chili padi, chopped  - 3 cloves of garlic, minced  - 3 tablespoons of fish sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil  - about 10 sheets of large spring roll skin  Procedures: 1) In a mixing bowl, add minced pork, thai basil, chili, garlic, fish sauce and sesame oil. Mix well.  2) Line up the 10 sheets of large spring roll skin side by side and overlapping with each other. (see below)  3) Line the minced pork in a cylindrical shape across all sheets of spring roll. Roll them up and swirl it into a snail shape. Use a long satay stick to pierce through the sausage and hold the shape.  4) Pan-fry the snail sausage such that both sides are golden brown.  5) Bake it in the oven at 180 degree celsius for another 15 minutes. Serve....

I finally roasted a whole duck. This recipe is wonderful as it adds a delicate taste to an otherwise gamey duck meat.  Ingredients: - 1 duck (about 2kg), pat dry  - earl grey tea from about 4 tea bags  - 1 teaspoon of five-spice powder  - 2 teaspoons of salt  - 5 potatoes, cube  - 1 onion, halved  - 1 bulb of garlic  Procedures  1) Rub tea leaves, five-spice powder and salt all around the duck and inside the cavity.  2) Stuff onion and garlic into the cavity of the duck and stitch it up using a satay stick.  3) Score the duck skin. Let it continue to air dry for 1 hour.  4) Place the duck (breast-side up) on a rack in a roasting tray. Let it roast for 1 hour at 180 degree celsius.  5) Pour away the duck fat from the roasting tray. Add potatoes into the roasting tray. Transfer the onion and garlic in the duck cavity go the roasting tray. Mix well.  6) Place the duck back into the rack in the roasting tray (breast-side ...

I have been keeping a look out for superfood (aka nutrients dense food) and sweet potato is one of them. This is a change to our usual mashed potato.  Ingredients:  - 4 sweet potatoes - half a cup of milk  - salt, pepper, mixed herbs (according to preference)  - parsley, chopped Procedures: 1) Cook sweet potatoes until soft. Mash it.  2) Add milk, salt and mixed herbs according to taste. Mix well.  3) Garnish by sprinkling with chopped parsley. 

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. 

This dish is super easy and the kids love anything that is creamy and cheesy. Ingredients:  - 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise  - 2 tablespoons of honey mustard  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - mozzarella cheese  - salmon steaks  Procedures: 1) Mix mayonnaise, honey mustard and garlic in a bowl.  2) Lay the salmon steaks on a oven tray.  3) Spread the mayonnaise-mustard mix on each piece of salmon.  4) Top it up with mozzarella cheese.  5) Cover the salmon steaks with aluminium foil. Bake it at 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes.  6) Remove the aluminium foil. Grill it at 225 degree celsius for another 5 minutes until the cheese turns brown. 

Garlic Butter Herbs Baked Salmon - another dish that just requires less than 30 minutes to prepare. Suitable for a weekday dinner too. Ingredients: - 1 piece of salmon fillet (around 200g in total) - 50g of butter - 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs - 1 pinch of salt (if use unsalted butter) - 4 cloves of garlic, crushed Procedures: 1) To soften butter, add herbs, garlic and salt. Mix them well. 2) Wash and dry salmon steak. Spread a little butter mix on the salmon skin. Lay it on a baking paper skin-side down. Spread the rest of the butter on top of the salmon. 3) Wrap the salmon in the baking paper. Bake in the oven at 180 degree celsius for 15-20 minutes. Serve.

I chanced upon this recipe in an old cookbook. I followed the recipe but the dish still looks very different from the picture in the cookbook. I am not sure how it should taste too. Well... at times, life is like that too... lack of clarity... but it is okay... Ingredients: - 1 kg of chicken drumsticks - 1 can of pastata - 1 packet of apple juice - 4 large red onions, sliced - 3 cloves of garlic, minced - 1 chicken cube - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1 salt Procedures: 1) Dust chicken drumsticks with flour. Brown the in a frying pan. Set aside. 2) Fry onions in frying pan until soften and brown. Add minced garlic and fry until fragrant. 3) Add apple juice, pastata and a bowl of water. Add the chicken drumsticks back to the pan. Simmer until cooked. 4) Season with salt, sugar and chicken cube. Serve.

My boys love sushi. Take less than 10 minutes to assemble 40 sushi? It is possible if you use ice-cube trays! Presenting the lazy sushi. You can use salmon sashimi, grilled unagi, other raw seafood, cooked prawns or tamagoyaki (Japanese egg omelette).  Ingredients (20 sushi of each type): - 400g of sashimi grade salmon - 400g of grilled unagi - 3 cup of sushi rice - 1 cup of sushi seasoning - wasabi - Japanese pickled ginger Procedures: 1) Soak sushi rice for 30 minutes. Cook it in rice-cooker with rice and water proportion of 1:1. 2) When the rice is cooked, add sushi seasoning to it and mix well. Let the rice cool. 3) Line a ice-cube tray with cling wrap. Insert one slice of salmon sashimi or grilled unagi in each ice cube mould. Smear a bit of wasabi on the fish. 4) Fill the cooled sushi rice to its brim. Chill the ice cube tray with sushi in the fridge for 30 minutes. 5) Invert the ice-cube tray on a serving plate. Remove the tray and the cling wrap. Serve....

I still remember the time I had my first chicken mushroom pie. It was during my first train ride to Malaysia. My auntie baked this for our supper during the overnight train ride. Hence, this snack reminds me of the excitement of the trip and the view of the train track from my train bunk bed. Ingredients for 6 pies: - 5 roti prata pastry (spring home) - 1 onion, chopped - 3 cloves of garlic, minced - 1-2 chicken thigh meat, diced - 1 carrot, diced - 1 potato, diced - 4-5 brown mushrooms, diced - 1 tablespoon of flour - 2 cup of milk - 1 chicken cube - pepper Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil. Stir-fry onions and garlic until fragrant. 2) Add flour and fry until no more rawness. Add 2 cups of milk and cook until a thick sauce is formed. Season it with chicken cube and pepper. 3) Add chicken pieces, carrots, potatos and mushrooms. Cook until tender. 4) In a muffin tin, line each base with half a roti prata pastry (use 2 quarter pieces to form ...

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...

I came out with this recipe when we were staying in UK a few years ago. The smokiness of the paprika-infused meat with its sweet and crispy skin makes this roasted chicken my family's favourite. For an even more juicy and tender meat, I decided to brine the chicken overnight. The end result is ULTIMATE!  Ingredients: - 3 tablespoons of salt  - 3 tablespoons of sugar (plus 2 more tablespoons for the final stage)  - 1 cup of hot water  - 1/2 tablespoon of Italian mixed herbs  - 1 tablespoon of paprika  - 1.6 kg chicken  - Vegetable oil  - mash potatos  Procedures:  1) In a cup of hot water, dissolve 3 tablespoons of salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let the solution cool to room temperature.  2) In a big ziplock bag, place the large chicken and pour the salt-sugar solution. Add a little more water until the solution is sufficient to soak the whole chicken. Soak the chicken in the fridge overnight. 3) ...

Ultimate 猫山王 Durian Cheesecake is ultimate in many sense of the word! First, it is an expensive cake with 3-4 good quality durian which can easily cost more than $50. Yes, just the durian itself. Second, it is so decadent (aka sinful) with 1 can of condensed milk on top of the cheese, cream and durian. Thirdly, it is indescribly marvelously delicious. In our family, this awesome cake only makes its grand appearance once a year on one a special occasion - Mother's Day. So, let me dedicate this cake to my mother and my husband's nanny. Happy Mother's Day to the two mummies! Ingredients: - 250g of digestive biscuits - 100 g of butter - 500g cream cheese - 500ml of whipping cream - 1 can condensed milk - durian flesh from 3-4 good quality durian (猫山王) - 2 tablespoons of gelatin - dessicated gula melaka coconut Procedures: 1) Crush the digestive biscuits. Melt the butter using microwave. Mix the butter and the digestive biscuits crumbs into texture that resembl...

This is my personal favourite. The preserved citrus peels draw out the natural juice of the cherry tomatos and make it even sweeter. If served at a party, I would find myself eating it throughout the party. Ingredients: - cherry tomatos - preserved orange peel or lemon peel Procedures: 1) Cut preserved orange/lemon peel into thin strips. 2) Make a "t" slit in each cherry tomatos. 3) Insert a strip of orange peel into each of them. Serve.