Memories in the Cooking

Smoked duck crostini - an impressive starter for home parties. Smoked duck is available from wholesalers near my place at the Woodlands area (i.e. Fasslers, Melvados). So, this recipe is so simple and only involves mixing and assembling. Ingredients: - 1 pack of cherry tomatos, cut into quarters - half smoked duck breast, cut into strips - 2 tablespoons of jam - cream cheese - 2 baguettes, cut into slices - olive oil Procedures: 1) Lay the baguettes slices in an oven tray and spread some oil on it. Bake it at 180 degree celsius for 5 mins. 2) Mix cherry tomatos, smoked duck and jam. 3) Spread cream cheese on the toasted baguettes. 4) Place cherry tomatos and smoked duck on the baguette slices.

My husband loves beef, especially a good beef steak. However, good grade beef can be very costly. Last year, I chanced upon a technique to improve the taste and texture of normal grade beef- marinate with soya sauce and garlic. I was initially skeptical that the soya sauce will change the flavour of the steak. But time and again, it has proven to produce flavourful and tender beef steak. So, I am happy that I do not need to rob a bank to make my beef-loving husband happy. Ingredients: - 2 pieces of 250g beef steak (ribeye, striploin etc) -2 tablespoons of Japanese low sodium light soya sauce - 5 cloves of garlic, crushed garlic - 10g of butter - 1 teaspoon of Italian mixed herbs - Vegetable oil Procedures: 1) Marinate beef with soya sauce, crushed garlic overnight in the fridge. 2) Take it out from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to warm up to room temperature. 3) Pat dry the marinate from the beef. Rub some vegetable oil on both sides of the beef. 4) Prepare flav...

My elder boy made this dish for his dad for Father's Day. I must say, it was quite impressive for a 8.5 year old. Ingredients: - 3 large Russet potatoes, sliced - 1 onion, sliced - 6 eggs Procedures: 1) In a pan, add some vegetable oil and fry onions and potatos until soft. 2) Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl, add the soften onions, potatos, half a teaspoon of salt and pepper. 3) To the pan, add some vegetable oil. Pour the egg-potato-onion mixture into the pan. Spread the mixture to about 1 itch thick. 4) When the bottom of the tortilla is firm, flip the tortilla over using a large plate. Then slide the fliped tortilla back into the pan. 5) After 3 mins, remove from the pan and serve.

This is the 100th recipe of this blog! So, I am going to celebrate with our all-time favourite- chicken curry! I love chicken curry and I can eat it every day! Ingredients: - 3 stalks of lemon grass, bruised  - a bunch of curry leaves - 3 cm of ginger, sliced  - 3 cm of galangal, sliced  - 2 red onions, sliced  - 1 bulb of garlic, peeled  - 3 fresh chili (can add some hydrated dried chili)  - 5-6 candlenuts  - 1kg of chicken, cut into chunks - 3-4 potatos, cut into chunks - 1 packet of coconut milk - 3 tablespoons of curry powder - 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil - 20 lime leaves, shredded * for more spicy, blend 3-4 chili padi and add 5 tablespoons of chili powder Procedures: 1) Blend lemon grass, ginger, galangal, onions, garlic, candlenut and chili into a paste.  2) In a large wok, heat up vegetable oil. Add the blended spices, curry leaves and curry powder. Fry until fragrant. Add more vegetable oil if needed.  3) Add c...

There are so many versions of beef stew - Western, Chinese and Japanese. My husband specially requests for one similar to his dad's - Chinese style Beef Brisket Radish Stew. So, here it is! Next time, I will add beef tendons too. Ingredients: - 1kg of beef brisket, cut into chunks - 1 large white radish - 3 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 1/2 bulb of garlic, crushed - pepper - 1-2 bay leaves - 1 tablespoon of plum paste - 1 tablespoon of fermented soya bean paste - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 cup of water Procedures: 1) Marinate beef with soya sauce, crushed garlic and white pepper overnight. 2) Brown beef chunks in a pan with some oil. Place them in a slow cooker. Add radish chunks. 3) Add the remaining seasoning, plum paste, oyster sauce, bean paste, water and bay leaves. Mix well. Cook at high setting for 4 hours. 4) Adjust the taste to preference using salt and sugar. Serve with white rice.

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) ...

I am terrible at crafts. So, making Bak Chang can be pretty frustrating to me. But my family says that they like the flavour of my ingredients especially the signature pork sausages. So this year, to reach a compromise, I prepared the ingredients while my husband and mum did most of the wrapping. Making bak chang is a family project indeed. Ingredients: (for 40 bak chang) - 1kg of pork belly, cut to bite-size - 400g of pork sausages, cut to bite size - 40-45 dried mushrooms - 1 clove of garlic, crushed - 1 onion, diced - bamboo leaves and strings - 2kg of glutinous rice - 40-45 chestnuts - light soya sauce - dark soya sauce - sesame oil - oyster sauce - five spice powder - pepper - 2 cinnamon sticks - 5-6 star anise Procedures: 1) Soak bamboo leaves for about 2 days. Wash leaves individually. 2) Soak mushrooms until soft. 3) Place mushrooms, pork belly, chestnuts and sausages in a slow cooker. Season with 1/3 cup of light soya sauce, 1/3 cup of dark soya ...

This char siew pork is so tasty yet so simple to cook. This is one recipe that I have inherited from my husband's nanny. I have added a little red food dye which I think she will disapprove of. But I can't help it as the red colour really makes the char siew pork more pretty. Ingredients: - 500g of pork collar butt meat - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1/2 tablespoon of dark soya sauce - pepper - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - red food dye (optional) Procedures: 1) Marinate pork with oyster sauce, sugar, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil overnight. 2) Place pork and marinate in a frying pan. Add half a cup of water. Let the meat simmer until the sauce thickens. 3) Add a little oil on a baking tray. Glaze the meat with the oil and place them in one layer on the baking tray. 4) Bake at 250 degree celsius for 15 mins on each side. There should be some char edges. 5) Slice the por...

My husband always laments that the Swedish Meatballs at Ikea are no longer as delicious as before. So, we decided to take things into our own hands and recreate Swedish Meatballs the way we like it. Ingredients: - 250g minced pork - 250g minced beef - 1 cup of bread crumbs - 1 egg - 1 onion, diced - salt and pepper - 1 can of all-purpose cream - beef stock made from 1 beef cube dissolved in 1 cup of water - 3 Russet potatos Procedures: 1) In a large mixing bowl, mix minced pork, minced beef, bread crumbs, egg, onions, salt and pepper. 2) Shape the meat mixture into the shape and size of table tennis balls. 3) In a pan, add vegetable oil. Pan fry the meat ball until all sides are brown. 4) Add cream and 1 cup of beef stock. 5) Serve with boiled potatos or mashed potatos and lingoberry jam.

The wonderful part about cooking cinnamon roll is that the whole house is filled with the heavenly fragrance of cinnamon. If there is an aroma to describe 'family bliss', I think it would be the smell of freshly baked cinnamon roll. Ingredients (16 large cinnamon rolls/2 large round tins): - 5 cups of flour - 1 and a half cup of warm milk - 1 pack of yeast - 3/4 cup of sugar - 1 teaspoon of salt - 250g of butter, melted - 3 tablespoons of cinnamon powder - icing sugar Procedures: 1) In a mixing bowl, add milk, sugar, 1/3 of the butter, salt and yeast. Let it sit for 1 min. 2) Add 4 cups of flour. Mix well. Let it sit for 1 hour 3) Dust flour on the dough mixture and knead it. Roll out the dough into a rectangular sheet, dusting it at each step. Keep the rectangular sheet as regular as possible. 4) Mix 2/3 of the butter, half a cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons of cinnamon powder. 5) Spread the cinnamon-sugar mix on the rectangular dough sheet. 6) Beginni...