Home Cook-Chicken Kuey Teow Soup

Today, I decided to cook at home. Yesterday, I went for grocery shopping and bought my bean sprouts at supermarket and this morning, I bought my remaining stuff at the morning market. 

It's up to you how you like your soup base. There's the prawn base and there's the chicken base.

I will be doing the chicken soup base for tonight.

Ingredients

• 1 piece of chicken drumstick
• 1 piece of chicken stock cube
• A packet of fishballs
• A packet of bean sprouts
• 1 piece of pork
• A packet of kuey teow

Instructions

1. Boil a quarter of water into a pot.
2. Put in the chicken drumstick and chicken cube.
3. Slice the pork into small pieces.
4. When the water is boil, pour in the fishballs and the pork.
5. Boil for at least 15 minutes before taking out the chicken drumstick.
6. Slice the chicken drumstick and throw back the sliced chicken into the pot.
7. Switch off the gas stove/ induction.
8. After that, boil another pot of water for the bean sprouts.
9. When the water is boiled, blanch the bean sprouts for 2 minutes and take it out and place it on a bowl.
10. Repeat step no.9 for kuey teow and mix it with the bean sprouts.
11.  Pour the soup into the bowl and it is now ready to serve.

Onigiri Nagatanien Minced Chicken Furikake

Finally, I am attempting to do a Japanese dish after doing so many Korean and Chinese dishes. As I love eating Onigiri and it's one of the easiest dish to make, I think I can make a decent Onigiri. 

Hahaha...my first try at shaping it into a triangle wasn't much a success. A second attempt will be coming soon....

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of Japanese rice
• Furikake of your choice

Instructions

1. Pour the rice into the rice cooker and cook it.
2. Once done, scoop out some rice, about 300gm onto a big bowl.
3. Pour in the furikake and mix it well before splitting the rice equally into two parts.
4. Make sure you wet both hands before scooping the rice with your hand and shape it into triangle.

Home Cook-Spare Ribs with Corn and Mushrooms

So on one of those days, my hubby asked me if there is any recipe that I made on my own. I told him there is one so far and that's about it. 

Suffice to say, I decided to take up the challenge and try and do some original recipes of my own. This is one of my own recipe that I did on my own from all my past soup experiences.

My instructions will be based on the assumption that you use a gas stove or induction. If you are using a thermopot, like me, once it's boil and the pork ribs are cooked, I will place it back inside the thermopot and let the flavour sits in for about 4-6 hours, knowing thats how my in-laws and hubby like it. I will reheat it again before serving. 

I love putting in red dates and goji berries as it will bring sweet flavour to the soup other than adding salt for its saltiness.

Ingredients

• 1 small cup of goji berries
• 6 pieces of red dates
• 500gm of pork ribs, cut into smaller pieces
• 1 packet of Shiitake mushrooms
• 2 medium sized carrots, sliced 
• 2 firm Chinese tofu
• 1 packet of small corn
• Salt for tasting

Instructions

1. Boil about 1 litre of soup in a big pot.
2. Put all the ingredients except pork ribs.
3. When the water has boiled, throw in the pork ribs and stir it.
4. Add salt according to your liking, while tasting it.
5. Boil for another half hour and it's ready to serve.

Home Cook-Tom Yum Goong Recipe

If there is one thing I like is to do my favourite clear tom yum soup recipe. I had cook it once before about 3 months back. Family loves it except the first time, it was too spicy (yep, I put too much Thai green chilli ;-)) ) and second time, it was too sour. 

Now that I am doing this for the third time, I think it will come out better than before. It will be left to my family to judge later tonight.

Here is my recipe, taken courtesy from www.thaitable.com and I followed most of it except one or two things.

Ingredients

• 6 green or red chilli peppers *
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 stalks of lemongrass
• 2 limes
• 200gm Grey Oyster Mushrooms
• 200gm peeled shrimp
• Quart pot of water
• 2 tablespoon of Tom Yum Paste or Powder*
• Thai fish sauce* 
• Option to include some meat; chicken or pork

*Note: For chilli peppers, if it's green chilli padi or thai green chilli, I suggest you cut and put about 3 pieces first and add more later on as you taste the soup when it's boiled. Cilli Padi, especially Thai ones tend to be spicier.

For the fish sauce, I will use a tablespoon and pour it in to the soup few tablespoon at a time and then taste it first. Different people have different requirement for their tom yum soup to be sour. So, pour and taste at your own liking, yeah. 

It is up to you if you wish to include the tom yum paste/ powder. My earlier two tom yum soup recipe, there wasn't any paste/ powder at all. This time, I am trying it since I bought this from Singapore. The place I found is a haven for Thai people to congregate and shop there by bringing in their local products and fresh vegetables from Thailand.

It's too bad that I can't find one Thai supermarket here at all.

Instructions

1. Fill up quarter pot of water in the pot and bring it to boil.
2. Prep the lime by cutting it into halves.
3. Peel off the lemongrass leaves stalk and then take the little crab hammer and beat the end of the stalk to release the flavour and smell.
4. Cut the green chilli into halves.
5. Add the chilli, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves into the pot and wait for it to boil.
6. Once boil, pour in the meat, squeeze the lime juice into the pot and add in the paste/powder and stir it well until it dissolve.
7. Wait for few minutes and stir the pot and then pour in the shrimps and mushrooms.
8. Include the fish sauce by pouring it few tablespoon first and taste until you feel that it is sour enough for you.
9. Optional to add in the cilantro before you serve.

Home Cook-Stir fried chicken with thai red curry paste Recipe (gai pad prik gaeng)

Tonight, my recipe is all about Thai food, hence the tom yum soup and now this. This is one of my favourite Thai dishes. It goes well with steamed rice and you can fried some eggs too, if you want.

This recipe is taken courtesy from www.eatingthaifood.com 

Ingredients

• 350gm of boneless chicken breasts*
• 3-5 long strands of Chinese long beans
• 3-5 kaffir lime leaves
• 4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste*
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon oil for frying

* Note:

• It is up to you if you prefer your boneless chicken breasts with or without its skin. I usually get mine without.
• Depending on your level of spiciness, you can put in 3 tablespoon first of ready made Thai red curry paste. Alternatively, you can make the paste yourself another time too.

Instructions

1. Sliced your chicken breasts into small pieces.
2. Cut the long beans into 1 inch pieces.
3. When both have been prep ready, pour in 1 tablespoon of oil into the frying pan or wok.
4. Let it heat a little before you pour in the paste.
5. Fry it until it's fragrant for around 30 seconds on medium heat.
6. Once you can smell the paste, add in your chicken and stir fry it until it is cook.
7. Add the fish sauce and sugar and stir it well. If you feel you need to add either one for more flavouring, you can do so.
8. After that, pour in the cut long beans and fry it for about 30 seconds before you add in the kaffir leaves and stir it well.
9. Fry it for another 15 seconds and then turn it off.
10. The food is now ready to be serve.

Home Cook-Spicy Soup La La (Clamshell) Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 gm lala
• 1/4 ginger, sliced thinly
• 4-5 pieces of red chilli padi
• 3 sprigs of curry leaves
• 3-4 cups of water
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of sugar

Instructions

1. Rinse the lala over water and place it in a bowl.
2. Take some young ginger and sliced it thin.
3. Take the red chilli and sliced it into half. You can keep the seed to add to the spice.
4. Wash and peel the curry leaves.
5. Once all the ingredients have been prep, bowl the water over a pot and pour in the lala.
6. Once the lala is cooked, pour in the ingredients and stir it well. 
7. For seasoning, add some salt and sugar to the pot and taste till you get the flavour that you want.
8. It is now ready to serve.

Home Cook-Korean Beef Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 gm fat trimmed sirloin steak
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Sliced the sirloin in thin pieces and spread it across a big tray or cutting board.

1. Sprinkle the salt and ground pepper all over the pieces of meat once.
2. Pour slight sesame oil over it after that.
3. Take 2 garlic cloves and mince it. Once done, spread it across the meat.

1. Prepare the flour and pour it to one side.
2. Take each piece of meat and dip it into the flour, front and back and place it back in the tray.
3. After that, crack 3 eggs into a separate bowl and stir it well.

1. Switch on the gas stove or induction cooker and pour 1 tbsp of cooking oil and spread it well.
2. Once the oil is hot, take each piece of meat, dip it into the egg bowl and then spread it onto the frying pan.
3. Fry it for about a  minute, front and back and take it out and place it on a tray for it to cool down. Do not put all the meat at once in the pan but once it is full, switch off the stove and take a piece of paper towel and clean it up and redo step no.9 until all is complete.

*Recipe is taken from www.maangchi.com  

Home Cook-Mushroom Rice with Wolfberries Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups white rice 
• 3 tbsp wolfberries (kei chee)
• 10 fresh Shiitake mushrooms, finely sliced
• Water
• Salt

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients, except wolfberries, in a rice cooker or thermopot.
2. Once the rice is on boil, add the wolfberries and stir it.
3. If you are using a thermopot, take it off from the gas stove and place it into the thermopot and let it do its work. If you are using the rice cooker, just let it cook and it will be ready.

*Recipe is courtesy from The Malaysian Women's Weekly Food Book