Teriyaki sauce (for everything!)

the sauce:

3 parts Mirin, 1 part soy sauce. 1/2 part sake, sugar, cornflour w/water.

simmer on medium heat until thick and dark brown!

use as a marinate, or while cooking, or as a sauce for bbq-ed chicken, salmon, etc...

bbq/oven roasted chicken wings (new + old recipe)

it's all about the marinate, this one. Sorry there's no picture!

first the old bbq chicken wings recipe. adapted from my ex-maid lisa's recipe. sometimes she added sprite or sugar to help the taste. But i remember she said the secret is in Maggi's Chicken stock cube. hahaha.

Marinate #1:

Soy sauce
Chickenstock
garlic
limes
lemons
salt & pepper

The new one i experimented with the other day on my new pitt

Marinte#2:

Oyster sauce
chinese 5 spices
garlic
lemons
salt & Pepper
Chilli Flakes


Marinte #2 has a much stronger flavour, it's a nice change. I liked it alot! would have added a little honey for the texture though.

honestly, it did better after 1 night of marinating and into the oven. So yup, if u're health conscious. into the oven it is! 220 deg F for 15 mins and u're done!

Char Kway Teow ALA website&exams

Ok i didn't have the proper ingredients. But i had the basics.

I would have prefered to have used bean sprouts, chinese sausages and sea hum and proper market fishcake. but i didn't have the time.

so i used 2 main 'meats' instead:
crab stick & jap fish cake.

ingredients:
fish cake
horfun or kway teow (fresh kind)
yellow noodles
bean sprouts
chinese sausages
chopped garlic (bout 2 teaspoons? maybe)
lard (if u have)
1-2 eggs
oil
fish sauce
sweet sauce
dark soy sauce
white peppers

fry all the 'meats' until fish cake is golden brown.
add (lots of chopped) garlic in. fry till slightly browned.
add noodles! toss and mix well
add fish sauce, sweet sauce and dark soy sauce to taste. ( i spammed a lot of sweet sauce, cut back in the fish sauce)
add a little water.
FRY and toss until noodles are cooked.
spread open centre of wok, pour a little oil and crack egg in. stir egg. when slightly cooked, mix in the rest of the noodles at the side.
at bean sprouts.
cover for 2 mins, fry a little and add wad ever sauces to taste.
mix in white pepper!

serve!


the jap fish cake was a little too weird for me, coz it got too soft for a fried dish. but  it has a nice texture on its on. haha.

even though i did this without a lot of the main ingredients, i think it still turned out much better than the previous time!

will update when i've got the complete ingredients. hahaha.

from Chef at home season1 ep5

Pan Roast Strip Loin with Tarragon Onion Butter 

For the butter:
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
1 bunch of tarragon, minced
1/2 cup of room temperature butter (1 stick)

For the steak:
2 more tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 thick New York striploin steak  
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

For the butter:

Melt the first two tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onions and a splash of water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat then cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook until onions are very soft, about 20 minutes.  The water will help the onions release their own moisture evenly, without burning. But the water has to dissipate in order for the temperature to raise thereby allowing the onions’ sugars to brown. So remove the lid, turn the heat down a notch and allow the onions to slowly caramelize. Stir frequently and be patient. As the onions begin to brown you may find it useful to continue turning the heat down a bit so they don’t burn. When the onions are a deep golden colour, spoon into a bowl and let thoroughly cool.

Place the stick of butter in a bowl and mash it with a rubber spatula until soft.  Add the tarragon and cooled onions.  Mix well. Spoon along the edge of a 12-inch piece of plastic wrap, leaving 3 inches on either end for twisting.  Roll into a log and twist both ends tightly. Put the log into the refrigerator and chill until hard. To use, slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds.

For the steak:

Toss the butter and oil into a thick-bottomed frying pan and begin melting over a medium-high heat. Continue until the mixture foams. Because butter burns at a fairly low temperature, the oil – which burns at a much higher temperature – will dilute it a bit, keeping it from burning and allowing you to cook the steak in the flavourful butter.

Season the steaks very well with salt and pepper.  When foam has subsided, add steaks to the frying pan and sear on first side until they’re well caramelized, about 8 minutes.  Flip steaks and cook on other side for 8-10 minutes for medium-rare. You may do what every chef first did in order to see if the steak is done: cut a small slit in one side and peek at the center! Remove steaks and place on a rack and let rest for a few minutes to allow their juices to reabsorb.

Serve with a slice of the butter on top!

BAK KWA!

gonna try this out this weekend!


Ingredients:
500g Minced Pork (mixture of 70% lean meat and 30% fat)
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Cooking Wine
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
4-5 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Chili Paste (for spicy version)
Pinch of 5-spice powder
Salt to taste



Directions:

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   In a large mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients until well blended. Season for an hour or more. Cook a small amount to taste if the sweetness is right for you.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Line baking trays with baking paper and grease it. Transfer the mince onto tray and flatten it with finger or a spatula, about 0.5cm in thickness.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Dry it for about 50-60 minutes or until it is firm enough to handle without the sheet attached to it. I dried it in the oven, lowest temperature with the fan on and door open for about an hour.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Cut the dried minced into desired shapes and sizes. Grill on high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side, it would take long to cook. Ideally, it should be barbecued over the charcoal.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Cool completely before packing them.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

No update!

no time to cook recently... But I've been inspired to look for the recipe for a french dessert called 'Masini'.

It's found only at a cafe called Emily's Place at melbourne central. Its just a sponge like cake filled with heaps of cream in the centre. and sugar sprinkled on the top caramelised to a light brown crisp...

the cake is abit like our kueh balu that we eat during CNY.

I tried googling it.. but i can't find anything for 'masini' maybe i'm spelling it wrong.

Iced Coffee

Ingredients:
Vanilla Escence
Vanilla Sugar
Instant Coffee powder (black)
Milk
Ice


spoon 2 teaspoons sugar, dash of vanilla, and 2 teaspoons of coffee powder in a mug.
add 1/4 mug of hot water
add cold milk.
pour over a glass of ice.
serve quick!

best taken on a warm weekday afternoon with lots of work to do. Refreshing and caffeinated!

Bruschettatatatatatata~~

this is from a night with super random cravings for tomatoes and bread. den i remembered one of all time favourite appetisers. Bruschettas! really simple and delicious!

ingredients:

tomatoes

oregano

salt & pepper

olive oil

chopped garlic

bruschetta bread (or baguette or wadeva u prefer)

1.dice up the tomatoes as chunky as u want.

2. put them in a bowl and add chopped garlic, oregano salt and black pepper. drizzle a little olive oil. mix well.

3. toast the bread till lightly brown at the sides. personally i use a frying pan turn up to high. and let the bread sit on it till its crispy on one side, flip it over, heat up the other side.

4. spoon tomato dressing over bread, sprinkle with more oregano, pepper and salt to taste.

when i'm really hungry and lazy to cook. go to ur supermarket and buy 1/4 of a roasted ready chicken. shred the bird and just sprinkle the tender meat all over ur bread. AWESOME!!!

Baked fish with cream sauce

I tried this the first time, and it was awesome. 2nd time was a little under cooked. 3rd time felt a bit flakey. so this recipe is still a little raw =)

this was inspired by a recipe i found online, but i didn't have all the ingredients. improv is the way!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1826,150184-237200,00.html

ingredients:

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

chopped celery

2 large onions

salt

pepper

butter

powdered sage

oats

cheddar

fish fillet ( i used barramundi )

mushrooms

buttor

flour

salt

pepper

milk

heat over to 250 deg.

in a pan. melt butter, add celery, onion and saute till tender.

remove from heat. stir in parsley, sage, oats and cheese.

season raw fillet with salt and peper. lay fish in greased baking pan/tray.

spoon dressing over the fish.

in another saucer. melt 2 tablespoons of butter.

add mushrooms cook until lightly brown.

blend in flour, salt and pepper.

gradually add milk till it thickens.

pour over fish in pan.

sprinkle top with shredded cheddar.

bake until fish is tender or when cheddar is browned!

mini Lavender pancakes with blueberry sauce

Everything should be made from scratch! Where's the fun if u just go out and buy the pancake mix?

this was inspired by the lavender farm in Tasmania!.. here's a pic of the original!

honestly the lavender ice cream is abit weird.. to eat. i'll make do without it!

ingredients:

plain flour (and/or with buckwheat flour)

bi-carb soda

1-2 eggs

milk

salt

vanilla sugar

culinary lavender

blueberries

and lots of exercise after this!

mix 1 1/2 cup of flour, 3/4 teaspoon bicarb-soda, eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, dash of salt, 3-4 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2

teaspoon of lavender in a bowl.

Whisk till u get ur smooth sticky pancake batter.

over a medium-low heat. use a tablespoon to place batter on a frying pan... when u see bubbles, it's time to flip it over!

do that for the entire bowl of batter.

sauce:

cook a handful of blueberries in a saucer until blue berries are tender.

add 1/4 cup of water and squash some of the blueberries.

add 8 heaped teaspoons of sugar

stir.

and stir.

and stir.

drizzle over mini lavender pancakes.

awesome!

here's a pic of the normal mini pancakes without blueberry sauce and lavender. eat with traditional maple and butter!

beef & mushroom Fetuccine Bolognaise

Bolognaise is the only form of pasta that cooks the noodles separate from the sauce. I think. Well at least that's how I do my bolognaise.

For this base sauce i normally use canned diced tomatos and use the other ingredients to flavour my sauce. but for convenience sake, i'm just gonna use Dolmio's pasta sauce (any tomato base kind).

Ingredients:

5 star grade minced beef

1/2 diced large onion

sliced cup mushrooms

shredded cheddar

salt

fetuccine

olive oil

canola oil (optional)

Cook fetuccine until Al dente

(for u newbies out there, that means it's still firm when bitten not soggy and soft)

drain hot water, toss pasta until dry.

add a little olive oil so they don't stick to each other.

over a medium heat, cook diced onions until soft.

Add mushrooms.

Add minced beef.

When beef is 75% cooked. (mostly grey in colour with little red parts, over cooked beef is horrible to chew)

add pasta sauce.

cook to a boil. stir and serve on top of fetuccine.

simple!

Marinated BBQ pork ribs

one of my favourite recipes. and so easy to do. picked it up from my mum who received the recipe through a friend in the United States 10 years ago. I can't believe i still remember it.

Ingredients:

Mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, parsley, rosemary)

Paparika powder

Tumeric Powder

Salt & Pepper

Soya Sauce (optional)

pork spare ribs 6 pieces

defrost spare ribs (ofcoz)

pour mixed herbs over ribs until amost full covered on both sides

sprinkle paprika and tumeric on both sides (not too much, because this gives a acquired flavour)

season with salt & pepper

dash of soya sauce

Marinate for 1/2 - 1 day

BBQ on grill (or roast on roasting rack in the oven at 250 deg) for 10mins, flip over and cook for another 10 mins.

serve with bbq sauce, sweet chilli sauce.

Since no one visits.. this blog is not going to waste!

I'm going to upload recipes up here! in the simplest way possible ofcoz.

almost a daily food journal of how i made my meals in melbourne.. yeah. so maybe 5 years down the road and i suddenly have the craving for 'the baked fish that i cooked at hans place' i can flip back to this blog. and 're-live' my foodie experiences!

ok for today. i'm going to be doing 1 desserts, 3 full meals and a nice drink.

first things first:

THE VANILLA ESCENCE (home-made)

this is important... one of the easiest things you can do for yourself in your free time.

ingredients:

2 vanilla beans

1 bottle of brandy or vodka

method:

slice along vanilla beans to expose inside beans

drown both sliced vanilla beans in a bottle of brandy.

leave to ferment for at least 2 months for best flavour without opening.

you could use used vanilla beans to flavour brown sugar to get vanilla sugar as well. I use it all the time in making drinks and desserts. works wunderbar!