Unagi & Kani Onigiri

I was a bit crazy and started preparing for tomorrow's breakfast+lunch @ 10.30pm!

Both of us will be working on Sunday and we don't wanna eat out...so it's an impromptu!

Hence, I made Onigiri !

 The Japanese style wares are from my friend, she's a piano teacher too =)

It's really nice of her to buy a gift for my new house...

So what's in the onigiri? 

There's unagi, kani (crab stick), shredded carrots, shredded seaweed

And not forgetting the sushi vinegar, which adds flavour to the rice.
I've also heard that rice vinegar can be mixed with salt and sugar to make sushi vinegar.
Don't know how true is that?

Yummy Yummy~~
I can't help but took one to eat after I've finished my job =)
And my man started to eat too!
He said that he's so lucky..get to eat Japanese food in the middle of the night.
HAHA!

 Simply love it! especially eaten with lots of wasabi! Thrilling!

The lunch box for my boy boy...just like my kid..hehe..bringing bento to school !
it's been a long time since I've made lunch for him to bring to work...

All wrapped up....

All the job ended at 1am..and it's now 2am...Yawnzzzzzz...
I wanna zzzzzzzz....
Have a good night everyone! =)

Steamboat for 2

These few days, I was busy @ work and had to work till about 9pm. 

And my man always wants to wait for me to dine together.

So we will have our dinner @ around 9.30pm..

it's really late and unhealthy, but we have no choice.

My mummy gave me some fishballs and they need to be cooked real soon,

was sitting in my fridge for a couple of days.

And so, I decided that we should have steamboat dinner!

I cooked the soup base before going to work...

Used small and large ikan bilis, soya bean, cabbage + napa cabbage

I love soya beans, I can clear all the soya beans in soups

And here comes the ingredients,

my man arranged them before I'm back...

Broken tofu, only realised that it was smashed when we were @ the cashier's...

We were soooo full after wiping out everything!

And looking at the clock..OMG, it's 11pm!

late dinners are not advisable =( 

I slept @ 2am just to wait for the food to digest a bit more...

Stir Fried Yellow Chives with Prawns

First of all I wanna thank my Mummy for buying these for me,
she will buy some groceries for me from time to time , isn't she caring?
And I'm glad that I'm just about 3 streets away from her! =)

So...what are yellow chives?
They are often used as an ingredient in longevity noodles,

which you can get in most of the chinese restaurant.

A pity that their servings of yellow chives are always so little.

and of course there are many ways to cook yellow chives.

I stir fried it with some oil, garlic and prawns. 

Just add 1 tsp of light soy sauce.

Its just as easy as that   =)

A pathway of yellow chives....

The key of cooking these is not to overcook it,

as it will lose its crunchiness.
And it's best to cook it on the same day of purchase.
I kept mine for 2 days, and it became partially green.

I did not add much seasoning, because I feel that yellow chives have their sweetness on its own.

and true enough, the dish turned out well.

My man enjoyed it very much.

Especially with a  bowl of steamy warm brown rice.

So that was our dinner!

Surprisingly plain and sinless..

But we felt happy eating and chatting together...

is that love? HAHA!

Edamame..My Favourite..

What's Edamame?

They are young soybeans cropped with its twig.
You can often find them in Japanese restaurant.
And in chinese, we call it 毛豆.

They are rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, omega fatty acids and micronutrients,
particularly folic acid, manganese and vitamin K (From Wikipedia)

They are really nutritious and whenever I feel like having snacks, 

this will be my better choice. Love them!

It's better than munching on potato chips right? =)

A Recipe Stand for you?

I'm loving my recipe stand very much!

With the stand, I don't need to lower my head to look @ the recipes anymore...

Sometimes, baking process can get really long and after a while, 

my neck will ache. 

I believe that some of you have had the same experience as me.

Actually, I bought it for decorative purpose initially,

and found out that it really helps in other ways too...

So..don't hesitate to get a stand! Actually...any stand will do...

as long as it can hold the recipe up!

Another of my favourite...

This recipe notebook is a gift from my good friend.

Isn't it cute!? 

I wanna collect more recipe notebooks!

Popovers!

What are popovers?

Many people asked me this question...

Popovers are actually light, hollow roll made from an egg batter similar to that used in making Yorkshire pudding. The name "popover" comes from the fact that the batter swells or "pops" over the top of the muffin tin while baking. They can also be baked in individual custard cups or popover pan. (From Wikipedia)


But I baked them in ramekins.

 Popping in process...

Getting higher!!


And after 40 mins....

The steamy hot popovers out of the oven!

 One of my nicest...

 I served the popovers with Marks and Spencer Tomato Basil soup...
some leftover KFC drumsticks...
& butterhead lettuce...

Look at the airy popover! Crispy on the outside and soft inside...
It's a whole new experience, my man found it amusing...
and we realised that it's really good to eat with butter!
Yummy and easy to make!


try this recipe..by Alton Brown from Good Eats


P.S: Go easy on the salt, the recipe called for 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, but...
kosher salt is not as salty as regular table salt, so just a pinch of salt will do.
And do remember to grease your cups generously with melted butter,
so they can rise really well and not stick onto the sides!

简单是美

Sometimes...I really hope to have a simple meal...

So I will prepare brown rice porridge...

and normally porridge goes well with these...

I used to think that all these are unhealthy as they are high in salt content and preserved.

But I don't know when did I start to love them....

 

Fermented beancurd is extremely salty.

Need to get a good brand to make it worthwhile =)

Cai Xin...very crispy!

 

And olive vegetables, my favourite!! It's really oily...

but the aroma is really..Woooohoooo....

And everything goes well with porridge!

You may think that my porridge looks like rice soaked in water...

that's what my man had commented.

But hey, it's brown rice..tougher to cook..HAHA..

I've added some silverfish to the porridge,

which adds sweetness to it~

Get raw silverfish, which are not soaked in salt water.

So this is my so-called "simple" meal...

Loaded with lots of salt..*giggles*

Till then!

从 "姜汁撞不到奶" 到 真正的 "姜汁撞奶"(Ginger Milk Curd)

I've never tasted 姜汁撞奶 in my life!
And I actually attempted to make it today~
The process was tough..
especially grating the ginger.
I don't have a proper grating tool, and my hand felt so hot!
The ginger juice was biting on my fingers and hands.


my first attempt.

Used Farmhouse Low Fat Milk, it's fat content is too low~

I have to use the full cream milk which has at least 3.8g of fats in every 100ml. 

So...this was the result..

Awwww...can u feel my disappointment!?

The spoon supposed to sit nicely on the "curd"....

I was sooooo demoralised!

And I announced...

can you imagine how i felt then?

So my man and I went to Fairprice to buy their house brand full cream milk.

and continued my quest!

guess what..2nd try...the spoon dropped again!

3rd try...OMG...NOT AGAIN!?!?!!!!

I was thinking what went wrong!? 

So i return to my laptop to revise the recipe..

TO MY HORROR,

 I have missed out 2 steps!!

1.  After boiling milk, turn the sauce pan in circular motion for 20 times.
2. To cover the end product and wait for 10 mins for it to set. 

over-confident me = failed attempts

So I tried for the 4th time,

this time round i was really careful.

Nervous Nervous!!!

Yippie!!!! Yeah!!!!

And finally!!!

I gave out a shout of happiness~and tasted it immediately!

Heavenly!! 

It's softer and more wobbly than soya beancurd.

It's a bit too sweet for me. & I've spent about 3 hours just to get one small cup of 姜汁撞奶

Tiring...but, the sense of satisfaction...Priceless...!

Broccoli + Potato Soup

This is my first time trying to cook this broccoli and potato soup.

Basically, ingredients used are healthy.

• Garlic
• Onion
• Broccoli
• Potato

The only doubt that I have is, will the nutrients be all gone during the long heating process? 

Especially the broccoli..! 

So I hope that cooking time can be reduced by steaming the broccoli and potatoes before boiling.

So I cut the broccoli and potatoes into smaller pieces then sent them into the steaming wok. 

And next step is to sauteed the garlic + onion in just a bit of oil. 

Add in the steamed broccoli and potato, pour some water in to fill up to 

1/2 of the height of the steamed ingredients, or u can use chicken stock, tastier!

Let it cool for awhile.

And puree it.

Bring it back to boil and mix some milk in. 

I didn't use any measuring cup, so all measurements are done with my gut feel.

I will just take note not to add so much water/milk @ one go, as the soup will become runny.

Lastly, sprinkle some salt and black pepper, 

& serve...

This is my end product.

Frankly speaking, I'm not really used to the taste. Still prefer mushroom soup!

I did not even finish my bowl of soup, got to dump it.

Pretty wasted huh?

Mixed Vegetable Rice 비빔밥 Bibimbap

Now I know how it feels when you got to rush home from work to whip up a meal!

It was super rush, and all actions have to be fast,

if not dinner will not be ready b4 8pm!

On some days, we settle on just porridge plus some side dishes,

but on some other days, I want to have better meals.

So today, we had Bibimbap!

One of our favourite~~!

Basically you just need to have these for the sides:

• shredded zucchini
• mushrooms
• carrot

For the above, you need to stir fry them with a bit of oil, garlic, sesame oil and soya sauce. You have to do it separately.

• spinach
• beansprouts (used Natto sprouts)

Blanch in boiling water for a few minutes, drain them and mix with sesame oil. 

Scoop the rice into the bowl, fry a sunny side up egg. 

Arrange the ingredients, add 1 or 2 tablespoon(s) of hot pepper paste. Depending on how salty/hot you want it to be.

 

Drizzle more sesame oil all around.

Ready to mix!

The man enjoying mixing all the stuffs together.

Simple, a healthier choice without meat, filling and

definitely enjoyable!