I learnt how to make traditional Japanese sweets (Wagashi) today! To read more about it, click here to jump over to my other blog.
15/03/201411/12/2020
Lobster Bisque Risotto
It was a nice quiet afternoon where mum and bro were overseas so there were no lunch plans for dad and I. Thus, I decided to do what I’m good at – 1 pot meals. I went a little lazy and used a can of lobster bisque soup for this dish. Really good for the lazy cooks. Ingredients: 1 carrot, diced 5 cloves of garlic, minced 1 chicken thigh (optional, I wasn’t planning on a pure seafood risotto) 6 prawns, shelled 1 squid, sliced 1 cup of frozen baby peas 1.5 cups of risotto rice 1 can of lobster bisque...
27/11/201311/12/2020
Seafood Risotto perfumed with Truffle Oil
Being Asian, I love rice – white/ brown/ sticky/ short-grained/ long-grained…just rice. So, we had a pack of risotto rice sitting in our cupboards for ages (don’t worry…it hasn’t expired and was vacuumed packed), so we decided to cook seafood risotto. The recipe below cooks for 4. Ingredients1.5 cups of rice (using a standard cup size and not the small little container that comes with rice cookers)1 squid, sliced100g clams1 chicken thigh, diced OR any fish to substitute 1/2 can of tomato puree4 cloves of garlic, minced4 shallots, sliced OR 1 pearl onion, chopped5 cups of stock or water1 tomato,...
21/10/201311/12/2020
Omakase Dinner at my place
Had dinner with ML and Siew Mai to celebrate ML’s birthday and when we were flipping through the menu, I couldn’t help but comment that some of the dishes were doable in my kitchen! Then the 2 teased and said that I should cook and then they come over to eat. That inspired my “Omakase” dinner. Omakase in Japanese means ‘leave it to me’ so in this case, leave it to me to come up with the following, which I cooked for 6 pax in total. For the amuse bouche, I did what is slowly becoming my signature, Tofu with...
07/09/201311/12/2020
Pan Seared Salmon Belly with Mushrooms & Mashed Peas infused with Bacon
I know, the photo isn’t the most appetising but it was really quite yummy. This is my idea of a healthy dinner which is full of Omega-3 fatty acids, iron and vitamins. Quite quick to prepare too! You’ll need: Slices of Salmon Belly (substitute with fillet if you must) Half a packet of shimeiji mushrooms (or button) 2 rashes of bacon half a cup of baby peas Method: If you’re using frozen peas like I did, microwave them covered on HIGH for 2 mins While the peas are in the microwave, heat up a frying pan and when hot, pan...
16/08/201311/12/2020
Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Beef Tenderloin
I’ve cooked beef several times. Same with spaghetti so I don’t think I need to repeat the method. Simply said, beef was cooked the Heston Blumenthal manner where I used a searing hot pan and flipped the steak every 15 seconds till it became medium rare. As for the spag, aglio olio means lots of garlic and olive oil. Extra bits that I threw in were asparagus and a tomato. Do note that I find myself adding a lot of salt whenever I cook aglio olio and I suspect that it’s because there’s no sauce for the spag to absorb. ...
12/08/201311/12/2020
Stir Fried Chinese Spinach in Fermented Beancurd Sauce
Those who live in South East Asia will be relatively used to this version of a stir fry. It’s not your usual Cantonese version of oyster sauce or plain garlic. I suppose that it’s more Teochew or Hokkein. Also, its fermented beancurd. Not fermented soybeans. The taste is more like miso but 10x more pungent but it mellows out when cooked. It normally comes in a small bottle and is fermented with chilli. Ingredients100g Chinese spinach (leaves and stem separated)2 cloves garlic, minced1 chilli, sliced (I used bird’s eye chilli here for a bit more kick)1.5 fermented beancurd cubes1 tsp...
08/08/201311/12/2020
Special Gyudon For Dinner & Plum Vodka
That’s my special Gyudon. I decided not to put most of the beef into the egg mixture AND I used tenderloin instead of sukiyaki beef. The steps are similar to my recipe for oyakodon except that I now separated the soy sauce mixture (mirin and soy sauce) from the beaten eggs and used my new oyakodon-making toy from Daiso: So this is the size of the bowl, which makes the sliding of the eggy goodness onto the rice easier. Supposedly. I need more practice, for sure. That said, the meal was satisfying and I paired it with my concoction of...
08/08/201311/12/2020
Baked Salmon, Roasted Carrots & Onions with Cranberry Sakura Rice
Selamat Hari Raya to all of my Muslim friends! For this dish, it is great for everyone except those who dislike seafood or carrots. Haha…anyway, what you’ll need are: Ingredients1 Salmon Fillet per person (shown is 2 very small thin fillets)half carrot per person1/3 white pearl onion per person1/2 cup white rice per person (approximate)1 clove garlic4 cranberries (more if you like cranberries)1 preserved salted sakura flower25g butter (approx)1 tsp dried rosemary leaves 1 tsp maple syrup2 tsp water1 tsp sesame seed oilolive oilpaprika powdergarlic powder saltground black pepper Instructions Sprinkle the paprika powder, garlic powder, salt...
30/07/201311/12/2020
Sliced Beef with Asian Mushroom Sauce
It’s not the most visually appealing dish that I’ve cooked so far but this is one of the most delicious that I’ve cooked. This is NOT a stir-fry so for this dish, please use sirloin/tenderloin/rib-eye steaks. In my case, I used tenderloin. What else would you need? Ingredients:3 steaks3 shitake mushrooms, sliced1 clove of garlic, minced1/2 cup mirin1 dessert spoon oyster sauce1 squirt of Okonomiyaki sauce (or plum sauce)drizzle of truffle oil (optional) I cooked my steaks the Heston Blumenthal way, which is to have a searing hot pan and then cooking your steaks by constantly flipping them every 10-15...