Memories in the Cooking

Many of my dishes came about because there were leftovers or unused ingredients. Today, I have a carton of soya bean milk which is not popular with the kids. So, I decided to make this dish of Homemade Tofu.  Ingredients: - 700ml of soya bean milk, unsweetened - 8 eggs - 500g of minced pork  - 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce  - 1 teaspoon of salt  - a bunch of parsley  - fried shallots  - corn flour  Procedures: 1) In a mixing bowl, add soya bean milk, eggs and salt. Mix well. Pass it through a sieve into a round baking tray.  2) Steam it for 30 minutes. Let it cool.  3) Coat the egg tofu with corn starch. Deep fry it until brown. Set it aside on a serving plate.  4) Fry minced pork and chopped parsley. Add oyster sauce and pepper to taste. Add a cup of water. Thicken the sauce with corn starch.  5) Pour the meat sauce over the tofu. Sprinkle some fried shallots. 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....

We brought this starter to a New Year Eve Dinner Party tonight. We prepared the cream cheese spread and assembled it at the party. So here you are, last dish of the Year 2020. A starter dish recipe to end the year.  Ingredients: - 1 box of cracker  - 150g of cream cheese  - 2 tablespoons of pickled cucumber  - lemon juice from half a lemon  - 1 clove of garlic, minced  - 100g of smoked salmon with dill  Procedures: 1) Mix cream cheese with pickled cucumber, lemon juice and minced garlic.  2) Spread the cream cheese mix on a piece of cracker and top up with a piece of smoked salmon. 

Here is another yummy 'ang-mo' soup - Cream of Corn and Potato Soup.  Ingredients: - 2 cans of corns  - 1 kg of potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks - 1 onion, diced  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - half a teaspoon of Italian mixed herbs  - 2 chicken cubes  - pepper  - 1 can of nestle cream  Procedures: 1) In a pot, add some vegetable oil and fry onions and garlic until fragrant.  2) Add potatoes and fry until cooked.  3) Add corn and mix well.  4) Add boiling water until it just covers the ingredients. Let the ingredients simmer until soft.  5) Blend the soup using a hand blender.  6) Add chicken cubes, herbs and pepper to taste.  7) Add cream and mix well. Serve. 

I cooked this dish for Christmas lunch and it was a hit. To tenderise the meat, I actually marinated the beef in soya sauce and garlic overnight. However, no one could detect or would have guessed the secret to this dish.   Ingredients: - 2 steaks, 2 itch thick, 400g each  - 2 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - a lot of grounded black pepper  - 1 can of nestle cream  - 1 tablespoon of mustard  - 1 beef cube  - cognac (optional)  Procedures: 1) Marinate beef steaks with light soya sauce and minced garlic overnight.  2) Pat dry the marinate. Coat each steak with ground pepper.  3) In a frying pan, add olive oil. Pan fry the steak until the desired doneness. Place the steak on the meat board to rest.  4) Pour away the excess olive but do not scrap the black pepper from the pan.  5) Add cream, mustard, beef cube and make a creamy sauce. Add cognac if preferred. Serve.  

I wanted to make a pretty side dish today. So, I spent three times the amount of money to bring some cherry tomatoes on vine. Ingredients: - cherry tomatoes on vine  - 200g of ricotta cheese  - 1 can of nestle cream - 1 egg - 300g of mozzarella cheese  - 1 teaspoon of sea salt  - 6 slices of roti prata  - pepper  - balsamic vinegar - olive oil - honey  Procedures: 1) Foil the roti prata until it forms a rectangular pasty.  2) In a mixing bowl, whisk ricotta cheese, nestle cream, egg, half of mozzarella cheese, sea salt and pepper.  3) Fill the pasty with the cheese mixture.  4) Place the cherry tomatoes on it.  5) Bake at 180 degree celsius at 45 minutes. 6) Drizzle some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey on it. Serve. 

This recipe of Potato Gratin takes a shorter time (about 30 minutes) as compared to the usual ones (about 1.5 hours) as it was first cooked in the pan rather than entirely oven-baked. I personally also feel that it is also creamier with the potatos first cooked in the cheese sauce. I have also added some smoked duck to transform this side dish to an one-dish meal. Ingredients:  - 7 Russet potatos, sliced  - 2 cups of whole milk  - 1 tablespoon of flour  - 1 large onion, sliced  - 1 bulb garlic, crushed  - 1 tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs  - 1 chicken cube  - smoked/roasted meat (smoked duck in this recipe) - pepper - parmeasan cheese - mozzarella cheese Procedures:  1) To a frying pan, add some vegetable oil. Fry onions until fragrant.  2) Add flour and fry until slight brown. Add milk to form a thick sauce.  3) Add the roasted/smoked meat, garlic, herbs, chicken cube, pepper, parmesan chee...

After a tiring day, it is really great to have a refreshing Vietnamese Salad.  Ingredients: - 1 carrot, shredded - 2 zucchini, shredded  - juice of 2-3 Thai Lime  - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce  - 1 teaspoon of sugar - crushed peanuts  Procedures: 1) Mix everything together in a mixing bowl.  2) Serve it on a serving plate.