Quarantine life

Tomato Parmesan scrambled eggs

Sweet potatoes congee

Tomato eggs 

Chicken chop 

Taiwanese Ji Dan Gao 

Vegetable stir fry with pork belly 

Meatball spaghetti 

Burger 

Steak with cream spinach 

Scrambled eggs with spam 

Omelette 

Salt Roasted Chicken

This salt roasted chicken recipe is from Ju, Little Teochew.

http://thelittleteochew.blogspot.com/2009/06/salt-roasted-chicken.html

The recipe turned out great ! This is so easy and the skin is crispy and meat is so moist ! Definitely a keeper

To summarize the recipe, clean the chicken, pat it dry, garlic in the chic cavity , then roast at 420-440F for ~ 1 hour until it is nicely browned.

Enjoy!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Tiramisu cake

I have been looking for good tiramisu cake in Minneapolis and last year decided to had it in Olive Garden for my Ultimate tiramisu on my birthday. It was really not up to my expectation. I want my "pick me up" cake to have Strong espresso , Strong ETOH and balance up together STRONGLY and GREAT. ( well, bear with me with all the cap letter as it should be a STRONG statement to write about tiramisu)

Therefore, this year , i decided to just make it at home since i can put however MUCH ETOH and coffee i want ! For a person who loves cake and loves to bake, who is happen to be on diet, i have been waiting this excuse to bake a cake for my birthday for 3 months !

This recipe is from Yochana's cake delight website.

http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com/2007/10/tiramisu-batik.html

Addictive Crispy Kale

How to make a carnivor eat vegetable ? How to make healthy snack and avoid eating chips? I think i have a good answer for that ! I stumble upon crispy kale recipe in Steamy Kitchen's blog and decided to try it today. It did not disappoint. It was really good and like its name, it's addictive. I guess next time , i will try it with Kai lan ( chinese brocolli)

Recipe
1-2 tb olive oil
Big bowl of kale green
salt to taste
1-2 ts garlic powder
2 ts cayenne pepper

1) Clean kale and remove from stems
2) Break kale into small bite size pieces
3) Dry with paper towel
4) Add olive oil , garlic powder , cayenne pepper and toss to coat
5) Bake in preheated 350F oven for 12 -20 minutes
6) Add salt to taste

ENJOY !

Fry Egg with Minced Pork and Beans

As a Teo Chew descent, nothing makes me happier than a bowl of just right temperature porridge , with fry fish , and eggs.For us , porridge is just our comfort food.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup of chopped french beans
1 tb chopped garlic
1/4 cup minced pork
a dash of fish sauce
a dash of white pepper
2 ts salt

1 cup rice
10 cups of water

Instructions

1) Wash one cup of rice
2) Cook rice in rice cooker with 10 cup of water for about 10 minutes with lid closed
3) Then let the lid open halfway ( to prevent the porridge from overflow)
4) Cook about 45 minutes until preferred consistency
5) Heat pan and add 1 tb oil
6) Pan fry garlic until fragrant
7) Add minced pork , pepper, fish sauce and salt
8) Add chopped beans
9) Pan fry until the minced pork turned brown from pink
10) Beat 2 eggs in a bowl and pour it on the mixture of beans and pork
11) Cook about 3-5 minutes with medium heat then flip
12) Cook until set, then plate

Durian Filling Crepe

One of my favourite dessert is durian roll from Angie's Bakery in Singapore. I was so into the durian roll that i would take a taxi purposely to go to the mall just to get that when i was in Singapore. I couldn't figure out what was outside the roll until recently, i realised the roll was actually made from Crepe with durian + cream filling ! That sounds easy ! Here is my version .. :)

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup of flour
3/4 cup of milk
3 tb margerine ( or butter)
1/2 cup water
1-2 ts vanilla extract
1 ts salt

Durian filling
1 frozen durian
1 cup of cool whip cream

Instructions
1) Combine all the ingredients for the batter excepts butter/margerine
2) Mix well
3) Melt margerine in microwave with defrost setting for about 10 seconds
4) Mix margerine into the batter
5) Heat pan with 1 tb of butter
6) Remove pan from heat
7) Pour batter into the pan using a laddle and using the back of the laddle to spread evenly
8)Cook with medium heat
9)Cook until some browning seen on the bottom of the crepe
10) Cook the other side for about 10-15 seconds
10) Remove from heat

Filling
1) Defrost cool whip
2) Add durian to the cool whip and mix well

To Assemble
1) Place filing in the middle of the crepe and fold the crepe in a rectangular shape
2) Sprinkle powdered sugar on crepes with strainer( optional)

Healthy Pasta Salad

This is a quite healthy vegetables loaded lunch with Omega 3 from tilapia! I love this simple and easy recipe and would like to share it with you. The nice thing about salad is that you can basically add in any vegetable that you like and mix it with the dressing and it will turned out to be a good meal !

Ingredients
1/4 box macaroni
1 slice low fat cheese
4 tablespoon low fat mayonaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/2 tb garlic powder
1/2 tb dry parsley
1/2 cup of broccoli florets
1/2 cup corns
1/2 cup green peas
dash of pepper to taste
dash of sat to taste
2 tilapia fillets marinated with salt and pepper
1 ts vegetable oil

1) Bring 2 large pot of lightly salted water to boil
2) Add pasta and cook for 5-8 minutes until al dente in one pot and cook brocolli , corn and peas in another pots for 3-5 minutes
3) Drain brocolli, peas and corns and rinse in cold water. Drain the pasta and stir in one slice of cheese until melted
4) Heat 1 ts oil in a non stick skillet over med heat
5) Sear tilapia about 5 minutes each side or until just cooked
6) Mix mayonaise, mustard, parsley, brocolli, corns, green peas, and garlic powder in a bowl
7) Lastly, add in the fish and if you prefer big chunks, just slightly break the fillet and mix in with the salad
8) Add salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Tikka Masala

The picture is not doing my chicken tikka masala justice. This chicken tikka masala has the combination of sweetness, sourish , spiciness that just awakened your taste buds! When i decided to blog what i had for dinner, it just show how excited i am with what i made today for dinner. Fun facts: the origin of chicken tikka masala is disputed. Some claim that it is from Glasgow, Scotland and some said it was created in a Bangladeshi Restaurant in England.Learn more about chicken tikka in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tikka_masala

Recipes
Chicken Marinate
A
1/2 cup of yogurt
1 lemon
3 ts ground cumin
3 ts ground pepper
4 ts cayenne pepper
2 ts salt or to taste

2 pieces of chicken breast , cubed
4 skewer

Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream ( low fat)
3 tb tomato sauce
1 ts vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of cubed onion
1 tomato ( cubed)
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
3 ts paprika
2 ts salt( or to taste)
3 ts ground cumin
2-3 red jalapeno pepper ( less if prefer less spicy)
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

1) Marinate the chicken breast with A and keep in refrigerator for 1/2 hour to 1 hour
2) Preheat oven to grill mode
3) Soak the Skewer in water for 10-20 minutes ( to prevent the skwer from burning)
4) Thread chicken on skewer and cook each side for 5 minutes or until brown
5) Heat oil in the pan
6) Cook onion for 5 minutes until caramelized, then saute garlic , and jalapeno until fragrant
7) Stir in tomato, tomato sauce, sour cream , and cilantro
8) Cook the sauce until thickened, then season with salt
9) Add chicken and simmer for 5 minutes
10)Serve warm and top it with fresh cilantro

Cream Of Broccoli

Ingredients

1 lbs of brocolli
1 onion
1 carrot
3 cloves of garlic
3 cups of skim milk
1 tb butter
1 ts nutmeg
1/2 cup white wine
2 tb of sour cream
salt

1) Chopped onion , garlic, and carrot
2) Saute onion, garlic until fragrant with butter in a pan , then add broccoli and carrot
3) Add milk and white wine, simmer for 15 minutes
4) Blend the soup in the blender
5) Add milk until desired consistency
6) Add nutmeg and season with salt to taste
7) Divide the soup into 2 bowls and top the soup with 1 tb of sour cream

Tilapia with lettuce salad

I love to eat conch salad. I had that in Nassau, Bahamas and it was one of the best food that ever i had . This recipe is quite similar with conch salad except that it is not conch but is tilapia. It is a very healthy dinner for those who are looking for healthy recipes

Ingredients

1 onion cubed

1/2 cup chinese parsley chopped

1/2 cup of julienned bell pepper

2 lemons

1 carrot julienned

1 jalapeno chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

1/2 cucumber cubed

3 cups of chopped Romaine Lettuce

salt

1 lbs of tilapia

1/2 lemon

salt

pepper

1/4 cup chinese parsley

Instructions

1) preheat oven to 350F

2) Marinate fish with 1/2 lemon juice, salt and pepper and top it with chinese parsley

3) Bake in oven for about 10 minutes-15 minutes

4) To assemble, layer the chopped lettuce in a bowl

5) Then layer with tomatoes, bell pepper, onions and carrot

6) Squeeze one lemon into the layer

7) Top the layer with cucumber, then another 1/4 cup of the chinese parsley and jalapeno

8) Place the fish on top of the salad

9) Squeeze the remaining lemon on top of the fish and top the fish with 1/4 cup of parsley

Chilli

Chilli , yum yum . I guess this is the first time i enjoy eating chilli. Is not because i am so narcissistic into thinking that other chilli is not great and my chilli recipe is the best. Well, of course i hope so , but the truth is usually in a restaurant the chilli is cooked with minced beef and i dont really fancy beef. I guess that is kind of obvious that i don't have any beef dishes in my blog. Anyway, this is chilli that is cooked with minced pork .. YUMS ! love it .. is a comfort and hearty meal. :)

Recipe
1 can of kidney beans
3 roma tomatoes blended
1/2 yellow bell pepper
2 red jalapenos ( we love it spicy)
2 big onions
1 lbs of minced pork
1/4 cup of red chilli pepper flakes
2 tb of hot sauce
1 tb cumin
1 tb dried oregano
1 ts coriander
2 ts paprika
1 tb cornmeal
1 tb cornflour
1/2 can of beer
1/2 cup of water
2 cloves garlics
1 tb olive oil
salt to taste
sugar to taste

1) Chopped onion , yellow bell pepper , garlic, jalapeno
2) Saute onion , bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno until fragrant, then add minced pork
3) Saute until brown, then add blended tomato, beer, and 1/2 cup of water
4) Add cumin , paprika, red chilli flakes, coriander, hot sauce, oregono and drained kidney beans
5) Bring to boil , then simmer for about 2 hours
6) Thickened with corn flour, and cornmeal ( add more cornflour of you like thicker consistency)
7) Add sugar and salt to taste
8) Serve it warm

Chicken BBQ Pizza

Ingredients

One 9 inch Pizza Dough ( recipe in this blog)

1/2Chicken breast
BBQ sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tb minced onion
2 tb corn
2 tb pizza sauce
1 tb Extra virgin olive oil
1 tb cornmeal
2 tb chopped red pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Directions
1) Cut chicken breast into half
2) Marinate chicken with BBQ sauce , then grill /broil for about 8 minutes each side in the oven
3) Cut chicken breast into cube
4) Preheat oven to 550F
5)Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza pan and place the pizza crust on top of the cornmeal
6)Brush a layer of olive oil on the pizza crust
7) Arrange the garlic, onion, pepper, chicken, corn and mozarella cheese on the pizza
8) Bake on lower rack oven for 6 minutes, and bake on upper rack oven for another 6 minutes or until brown

Ginger black bean sauce steam tilapia

Recipe
2 tilapia fillets
1 tomato sliced
2 stalks scallions sliced
2 inch ginger ( minced)
1 tb black bean
1 tb fish sauce
2 tb sambal paste * left over from kangkung belacan, recipe in this blog*

1) Marinate tilapia with all the ingredients except tomato and scallions
2) Top tilapia with tomato and steam it for about 10 minutes-15 minutes
3) Garnish with scallions

Ginger Milk Custard

Ginger Milk custard is amazingly simple, and tasty. Here is the recipe

5 inches of ginger

1/2 cup milk ( i used 2% milk, but whole milk is cremier)

1 tb sugar

1) Peel off ginger skin, processed it in food processor , and strain it in muslim cloth

2) Divide ginger juice into two ramekins/bowls

3) Heat milk in a small pot until nearly boiled and remove from heat

4) Cool the milk by pouring the milk to another bowl, back and forth for 10 times

5) Then pour it into the prepared ramekins

6) Let it set for 10 minutes

7) Serve warm or cold

Grill Salmon

Ingredients

1 tb soy sauce

1 tb worcestershire sauce

pepper

salt

1/2 salmon fillet

1) Preheat oven to 350F

2) Bake for 5-7 minutes

3) Then, broil the fish in oven until brown

4) Serve it hot with mango tomato salad

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

This is the recipe that i have been looking for since i was 2. Well , i know , i am exaggerating ! Well, this is one of the dishes that i love so much that i have been looking for the recipe for a long long time. Thanks to JustjanS, this recipe was posted in recipezaar ! http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Japanese-Mums-Chicken-68955

Recipe

2 chicken breast

1 cup of water

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup of soy sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno

1 tb oil

2 tb sugar

1) heat oil in pan , then brown the chicken

2) add water, vinegar,sugar, bruised and peeled garlic, jalapenos

3) bring to boil , then reduce to simmer for 15-20 minutes

4) turn heat to high to thicken the sauce until it covered the chicken like a glaze

Wanton Mee

I love wanton mee. This would be one of our top 10 " must have" when we were back in Malaysia. The simplicity of the dish makes it great ! There is 2 ways you can have wanton mee, dry and wet.

Recipes adapted from http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipewontonmee.htm

Wanton Mee ( Soup version) - serve 2

2 cup egg noodle

1 cup of chopped choy sum

3 slices of ginger

6 cups of water

10 cups of water ( to cook the noodle and wantons)

2 stalks of scallions

6 wantons ( wantons recipe below)

1/2 chicken breast

1 tb soy sauce

1 tb shaoxing wine

1 tb fish sauce

1 tb of sugar

sesame oil

pickled green chillis

salt

pepper

1) In a stock pot , bring 6 cups of water to boil.

2) In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a rapid boil

2) Add in scallions, chicken breast and ginger into the stockpot

3) simmer about 25-30 minutes, remove chicken , set aside

4) blanch choy sum until al dante in the same boiling water, then remove the choy sum and set aside ( Now you have a chicken and vegetable broth! ) . Add sugar. salt , pepper, fish sauce, shaoxing wine to taste ( slightly saltier then u want it because when you add the noodle, it will balance it up nicely)

5) Cook wantons for about 3-5 minutes in the large pot and set aside

6) Cook the egg noodle in the large pot until al dante for about 1-2 minutes

7) Shred the chicken breast

8) To assemble, put the egg noodle in a bowl, then add wantons, choy sum , shreded chicken, and laddle in the broth

9) add a dash of pepper , and 1 ts of sesame oil

10) serve it hot with condiment ; pickled green chillis (recipe below)

Wanton Mee ( Dry Version)

2 cup egg noodle

1 knob ginger

1/2 cup chopped scallions

2 ts salt

3 tb oyster sauce

2 ts dark soy sauce

1 tb of soy sauce ( adjust to taste)

1 tb sesame oil

1/2 tb white pepper

1/2 cup chopped choy sum

1) In a large pot , bring 1 litre water to boil

2) Add salt, 1/4 cup scallions, and ginger

3) Cook egg noodle in the pot until al dante, drained

4) Blanch Choy sum in pot for 1-2 minutes

5) Mix oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper with noodle, mix well

6) To assemble, place 1/2 the noodle on one plate, with choy sum and chicken.

7) Garnish with 1/2 of the remaining scallions, and top it up with some pepper

Wanton recipe

10 of wanton wrappers

1/2 cup of ground pork

1/2 tb corn starch

1/2 tb sesame oil

1 tb soy sauce

1/2 tb fish sauce

1 tb shaoxing wine

1) Mix ground pork with corn starch , sesame oil , soy sauce and shaoxing wine

2) wrap with wanton wrappers to form 10 wantons

Pickled green chillis

2 green chillis

1 cup of water

1 cup of vinegar

1) chop the chillis

2) boil water, remove water from heat

3) soak chillis in boiled water for 10 minutes

4) drain the chillis and soak chillis in vinegar overnight

Char Kueh Teow

Fried Kueh Teow is one of the food that is commonly seen in the Malaysian restaurant menu and hawker stalls. I don't think i have achieved the ultimate way to fry this noodle , without the "wok hei" , which means the pan fragrant created by high heat, but i think this recipe can cure the craving for char kueh teow for those who are living far from home. As the saying goes, "bo hu , hei pun hor", no fish , prawn is acceptable too .

Recipe

1 bowl of kueh teow

1/4 cup of chives

1/4 cup of bean sprout

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

1/2 tb siracha

1 tb oil

1 ts chicken stock

1 ts of fish sauce

1 ts dark soy sauce

1 tb light soy sauce

1 ts sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1) heat 1 ts oil in the pan

2) break the egg and roughly scramble it

3) dish out and set aside

4) heat the remianing oil , add chopped garlic , and fry till fragrant

5) add the kueh teow, fry fro 1 -2 minutes, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, siracha , chicken stock , fish sauce , and sugar

6) Add salk and pepper to taste

7) stir fry on high heat and then add bean spout and chives

8)stir fry until the vegetable mix well with the noodle

9) Dish out and serve

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Recipes
1 cup strawberries
1 tb honey
1 banana
5-8 ice cubes
1/2 cup plain yogurt ( low fat is preferred)

Blend everything together and enjoy