Claypot Stewed Seafood Hokkien Mee

It's been a long long time since I last had this dish in the old days. Time to reminisce so I tried to follow the recipe as close as I could still remember how it was cooked.

One pot dish is always a favorite among busy mummies, no matter you are SAHM, PTWM, FTWM, what ever terms I could think of. Even for the helpers, they would love one pot dish too.

Here's what I have adjusted the recipe based on 4 servings as I cooked based on agar-ation for my family of 7.

Claypot Stewed Seafood Hokkien Mee

Ingredients (A) 

500gm Yellow Hokkien Mee (the flat ones)
1/2 tbsp chopped Garlic

Ingredients (B)

8 Shelled Prawns (I removed the shell but left the head and tail untouched)
1 Boneless Thigh (Cut into bite-size) 
5 slices Lean Pork
5 slices Fish Fillet 
5 slices Sotong (optional)
6 pcs Crabstick
some Caixin (Cut into 4-5 cm long)

Ingredients (C) 
1 Egg  

Sauce 
500ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Dark Sauce
2 tsp Light Sauce
1 tsp Oyster Sauce
some sesame oil
pinch of Pepper

Thickening Glaze
3 Tbsp Tapoica Flour } Mix well for thickening
4 Tbsp Water                 } the sauce

Method:-
1) Blanch the yellow noodles in boiling water for few min, remove and set aside.
2) Dust the fish with tapioca flour and then rinse with water. Set aside.
2) Fry chopped garlic in 1 tbsp of oil till fragrant. Add the sauce, (B) ingredients and blanched yellow noodles. Cover the lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
3) Put in beaten egg and thickening glaze and a little bit sesame oil.  Stir well & serve!

PS: 
- Personally I do not like too starchy food so please add the thickening glaze according to your preference.
- My kids prefer to have poached egg or half boiled egg instead so I cooked the eggs separately and add on top before serving.
- Dusting the fish helps to remove the fishy smell and makes the fish less likely to break while cooking.

Lor Mai Kai

I had been wanting to make Lor Mai Kai for very long time ago, after seeing quite a few of my friends posting in their Facebook and blogs. Ingredients were anytime readily available but it's the lazy me inside which did not fulfill my craving for it.

Tonight, I decided to carry forward this long waiting to do dish for the kids' breakfast the next day before school. I have no regrets to sacrifices my rest time. Thanks Gwen for her recipe.

Assembling the Lor Mai Kai

Ingredients

1 chicken leg (thigh + drum, deboned)
4 chinese mushrooms
1 chinese sausage
3 cups glutinous rice

Seasoning for chcken
minced garlic
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp oyster sauce
some cornstarch

Seasoning for rice
1 TBsp oyster sauce
1 TBsp light soya sauce
1/2 TBsp sesame oil
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 cup water (I used water that I soaked mushrooms with and top up to 1 cup)
Mince garlic

Method (for chicken)
1.  Debone chicken leg and cut into pieces.
2.  Soak chinese mushrooms with some water and cut up (do not throw away the water)
3.  Slice chinese sausage.
4.  Marinate chicken with seasoning above for at least an hour,

Method (for rice)
1.  Soak glutinous rice for 6hrs or overnight.
2.  Mix seasoning for rice together with water. Stir well.
3.  Heat some oil in wok and fry garlic till fragrant.
4.  Add rice into wok and stir fry with garlic.
5.  Add water with seasoning into wok and mix well with rice.
6.  Keep frying till water dries up. Remove from heat.

Assembling
1.  Place some chicken, mushrooms and chinese sausage at the bottom of a bowl.
2.  Top with rice till 3/4 full.
3.  Place in wok and steam for 30 mins or until cooked.
4.  Run a butter knife around the bowl and invert onto plate. Serve while hot.

  

Tteobokki - Korean Spicy Rice Cake

 Many months ago, my hubby and elder son were into Korean food and loved so much of the korean spicy rice cake - Tteobokki. Off the rack, hubby bought a few packs of the tteobokki sauce from Korea back so I went to buy the frozen korean rice cake. Although it isn't cooked from scratch, it definitely is a easy dish for first timer like me.

     This was not my first time cooking this dish but I loved this sauce. Previously bought tteobokki sauce (not this brand) from NTUC but the taste wasn't good enough for my fussy hubby. I will strongly recommend this sauce if you ever go Korea to their supermarket.  

Homeplus Brand - Instant Tteobokki Sauce

Tteobokki with added homemade kimchi

Tteobokki by Eleanor

Ingredients :

1 packet Tteobokki sauce (store bought, most of them are 150gm, slightly more is fine)
500gm Korean Rice Cake
3 small Fish cake, cut in bite size
1 carrot, diagonally sliced abt 1cm thickness (optional)
1/2 pack Crabstick (optional)
1/2 pack
1/2  Onion, sliced
2 stalk spring onion, cut into 3-4 cm strips
2-3cups Water (just enough to cover the rice cake)
Toasted Sesame seeds (for garnishing)

Method:

1) Heat up the frying pan or wok over medium flame, pour some oil and fry the onion til fragrant, no need until brown.
2) Add in water to boil, then add in the rice cakes to simmer for 8-10 min or until soft. Constantly stirring the rice cake to prevent it from sticking onto the base.
3) Add in the tteobokki sauce to mix well.
4) Add carrot, crabstick and fish cakes. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. The sauce should be sticky and thick, if still watery, boil for a while longer. Add in the spring onion to mix well and sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds right before turning the heat off. Serve immediately. 

Note:

Tteokbokki does not reheat well in the microwave. Reheat any leftovers, along with a little bit of broth or water, in a small pan over low heat. You can also add in cabbages or hard boiled eggs.       

Easy Kimchi

Easy Kimchi

I am back now to blog again as I have come to realize that blogging will bring back memories of how and what I have learnt over the years. I have missed so much that I couldn't find back some of the good recipes I have come across.

I have learnt how to make kimchi for the first time from  Maangchi  but modified a little to my own taste.

Kimchi by Eleanor's Kitchen

Easy Kimchi 

Ingredients :-

1 whole Napa Cabbage (abt 1.6kg)
4 pcs of garlic
A few slices of ginger
1 big onion
2 pear
3-4 Spring onion (diagonally sliced)
1 Carrot (cut to strips)
Hot Pepper Flakes (buy fm Korean shop) put to yr own spicy level
170 gm Rice Flour
1 cup of water
85 gm sugar

Method:-

1. Trim the discolored outer leaves of the napa cabbage.

2. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Cut the cabbage into bite size pieces.

3. Soak the cabbage in cold water and put the soaked cabbage into a large basin. Sprinkle salt.
(Tips: 1 cup of salt will be used for 10 pounds of cabbage) I used about half a cup of salt.

4. Every 30 minutes, turn the cabbage over to salt evenly ( total salting time will be 1.5 hours).

5. One and a half hour later, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times to clean it thoroughly.

6. Drain the cabbage and squeeze out the water.  Leave aside.

7. Put the cups of water, rice flour in a pot and mix it well and bring to boil. Keep stirring until the porridge makes bubbles (about 5 minutes).

8. Add in sugar and stir to cook for a few more minutes until it is translucent. Cool it down.

Making the kimchi paste:

1. De skin and cut up the pear, removing the seeds.

2. Cut the onion into chunks size.

3. Blend the garlic, ginger, pears into fine puree.

4. Place the puree into a large bowl, add in the cooled porridge, hot pepper flakes (I used 1.5 cups) and fish sauce, mix well to taste.

5. Add in the cabbage, spring onion and carrot. Mix well till incorporated (I wore disposable gloves and mix by hand). Kimchi is done.

6. Put the kimchi into an air tight container n cover. Leave at room temp to ferment for 12 to 20 hrs. Then refrigerate. When you open the lid, you may see some bubbles with liquids or maybe sour smells, that means it is already being fermented.

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

A baking friend, Gwen, introduced us (my daughter and I) to mini corn dog at a gathering. My daughter loved it and had quite a couple of it. Since then, she had been requesting me to bake for her. I have been dragging my feet as I still have a long baking list to fulfill and the need to buy cornmeal from phono huat too.

Finally, I have all the ingredients needed. The original recipe is adapted from here, shared by many lovely people.

So here's the recipe ...

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients:-

1/2 cup Melted Butter 
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Buttermilk 
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup Cornmeal
1 cup Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
8-10 hotdogs (Cut into 3 pieces)

Method:

1. Combine baking soda, cornmeal, flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Combine butter and sugar with whisk
3. Add eggs and whisk to combine.
4. Add buttermilk and whisk well.
5. Add in dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well.
6. Drop 1 tbsp batter into mini muffin tray. (I use the mini paper cup into mini tart mould) 
7. Place 1 hotdog into the middle of the batter and press down.
8. Bake at 190 degree C for 8-12 mins.

(Just for fun, I made 3 cuts on top of the hotdog so that it opened up like a flower when baked)

Kueh Dadar

Since I still left some Gula Melaka and happened to see my friend, Rosalyn, sharing her kueh dadar recipe, I decided to clear the pantry and try making this kueh kueh (actually to find excuses to stock up more gula melaka, hahaha).

The recipe calls for 80g Gula Melaka but I find it can be slightly more so I modified a bit.

Kueh Dadar Recipe:-

Ingredients for the fillings

- 200 gm Grated Coconut
- 80g Gula Melaka (I use 90gm)
- 1/3 tsp Salt
- 2 Pandan Leaves
- 40ml Water
- 1 tbsp Glutinuous Rice Flour

Method-

1) Melt Gula Melaka, water and pandan leaves in a pan, till sugar dissolved. Remove the leaves.

2) Add in grated coconut and salt, mix well.

3) Lastly, add in the glutinous rice flour, mix everything well till incorporated.

4) Set aside for later use.

Ingredients for Batter

- 180gm Plain Flour

- 2 Eggs

- 1/2 Salt

- 2 tbsp Pandan Juice (1-2 drops of pandan paste)

- 250ml Water

- 100ml Coconut Milk

Method:-

1) Mix all ingredients in a bowl, sift and leave aside for 30mins.

2) Heat a non stick pan over medium heat, add 1 tsp oil and wipe off excess with paper napkin.

3) Pour just enough batter thinly covering the base of pan, swirl round the pan to spread the batter evenly.

4) Turn over the pancake after a minute, remove onto a plate to cool.

5) Put about a tbsp or more of the coconut fillings onto the pancake and roll up.

6) Enjoy!

Kueh Dadar

Cocoa Bread

2 days ago, I decided to try out the recipe from the baking books I have collected as I always make use of the same basic dough for my different designs of buns/loaf. I hand knead all my bread dough as I don't own a BM.

So, here comes the cocoa bread! I would say this dough is very sticky to handle but it yields a soft bread. Can eat on its own or goes very well with ice cream or spread with jams.

Cocoa Bread
(Recipe adapted from Home baking 星期天的烘焙时光)

Ingredients:

235 gm bread flour

15 gm cocoa powder

5 gm yeast

45 gm sugar

1 egg (50gm)

120 gm milk

30 gm unsalted butter

4 gm salt

Method: 

1) Place the dry ingredients and stir together. (Yeast must not be placed in direct contact with salt as it will 'kill' the yeast and become inactive)

2) Add in the wet ingredients (egg & milk)

3) Mix together and pour out onto tabletop to knead by hand for abt 8 min. Add in butter and knead again for another 10min or until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

4) Oil bowl and put in the dough, cover with cling wrap and leave to proof for an hour or till doubled in size.

5) Punch out the air and divide into 3 portions. Each rolled into a ball, cover and let it rest for 15 min.

6) At the same time, grease the loaf pan (20cm*10cm). Here I use pullman tin.

7) Flatten out the dough into rectangular shape, fold in both sides and roll into a load, pinch the edges tightly. Repeat for the other 2 dough. (See last photo below)

8) Place the 3 rolled dough side by side, with the closing ends facing down. 2nd proofing for  an hour or doubled in size.

9) Egg wash and bake at 180C preheated oven for 25-30mins.

Enjoy Baking!

My 2nd attempt with bread baking.

After my first bread baking, I tried again one more time as I wasn't happy with the texture. This time back then was slightly better. However my kids were amazed by the bread I baked which made me very happy. Since then, I wished that I could bake a spread of different bread with the right soft yet spongy texture, home baked and healthy bread for my family.  

My FIrst time in Bread Baking

It has been very very long since I last blogged...actually almost forgotten about it. My passion in baking has grown much stronger over the years and with a group of bakers and home chef, the list to bake/cook is getting no shorter ever.

I still remember my very 1st encounter in bread baking was shared by my friend, Jen who had shared with me her recipe after I saw her Facebook posting. No tutorial or hands on was taught, but I was so happy to be able to bake bread and it was my first time. Or perhaps, I am too greedy to try out different types of bread for a first timer. Chicken floss, sugar twist, hotdog and raisins bun were my very first encounter with bread baking.