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好心人

Ho Sim Lang

olive oil

Stir Fry Watercress with Shredded Chicken

May 8, 2016 by Ho Lang

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Stir Fry Watercress with Shredded Chicken

This is a recommendation from one of the home cooks from this cooking Facebook group that I am part of – a savoury version of watercress instead of the usual soup that I would always cook.

Watercress is my second favourite vegetable, second to bitter gourd of course. But I usually would cook it in a soup with fish balls. So this is my first time stir frying the watercress with shredded chicken and wolfberries. The final result is a nice confluence of flavours. The nuttiness of the watercress blends really well with the marinated chicken drum meat and the wolfberries adds a little sweetness to the dish.

Very easy to cook and tastes delicious. Even the wife loves it (and she hates watercress cooked in soup).

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch Watercress (the wet market usually sells fresh watercress although NTUC surprises me from time to time)
1 Chicken Drum (I usually get the chicken butcher to de-bone the chicken drum for me. The meat from the chicken drum is more tender and delicious when cooked)
Handful of Wolfberries (these are the dried reddish fruits that is usually available from any chinese medicine shop or NTUC)
4 tbsp Olive Oil (for frying)
1 tbsp Rice Wine (shao xing hua tiao jiu)
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
4 cloves Garlic (rough chop will do)
2 tbsp Kikkoman Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp White Pepper

Method

1. Soak the watercress in water to remove any dirt or debris. Clean out the discolored leaves. Chop the watercress into half after removing the end of the stems.

2. Chop the meat from the chicken drum into small slices. Marinate with white pepper and soya sauce for about 5 minutes.

3. Rough chop the garlic pieces. Then throw them into a heat wok with the oil. Stir fry the garlic pieces until they start to brown. Then add the marinated shredded chicken slices and wolfberries. Stir fry until the chicken starts to change colour.

4. Add the washed watercress into the wok and add a little water. Turn up the heat to high and then cover the lid to allow the vegetable to cook a little more. After about 3 minutes, they should be sufficiently whithered but still bright green (You generally don’t want to overcook the watercress because You want to retain the vitamins in the vegetable).

5. Add the oyster sauce and rice wine mix into the dish and continue to give it a stir fry. After that you may serve.

Bon Appetit!

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Watercress and wolfberries

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Shredded chicken drum slices

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Stir fry the garlic pieces

Posted in: Recipes Tagged: chicken drum, hua tiao jiu, Kikkoman Soya Sauce, olive oil, shredded chicken, watercress, wolfberries

Drunken Sesame Chicken

September 27, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Drunken Sesame Chicken 嘛醉鸡

This is an improvement to my previous recipe Chicken in Rice Wine. That recipe is great but this is much better. I discovered that by adding more sesame oil and also hua tiao jiu together with the hakka rice wine, the results were a sweet caramelized chicken.

I like to cook this with chicken wings as they have the gelatinous fats that would be so delicious once you pressure steam and fry the chicken in a clay-pot.

Make sure you add just the right amounts of ginger and if possible fry them until they become brown and almost burnt. When the dish is done, your clay-pot might be a light charred due to the sugars in the hakka rice wine caramelising, some of the chicken parts are burnt slightly due to the heat, but that is fine. A delicious chicken dish with steamed rice or best with porridge or congee.

Recipe

Ingredients

4 Chicken Wings with Drunplets (separate the drumlets from the wings and also the wing tips)
Lots of Ginger *maybe 8-9 cm of one inch thickness* (sliced thinly)
1/4 cup of Hakka Rice Wine
1/4 cup of Shao Xing Hua Tiao Jiu
White Pepper
2 tbsp of Light Soy Sauce 
1 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4 tbsp Sesame Oil

Method

1. Marinate the chicken parts with light soy sauce and white pepper. Allow the meat to marinate at least for 5-10 minutes.

2. Sliced the ginger thinly, and then heat the olive oil and sesame oil in a clay-pot over low fire. Then fry the ginger strips until brown and crispy.

3. Add marinated chicken meat into the clay-pot for cooking. Over medium fire continue to cook until chicken pieces turn whitish in colour. Add dark soy sauce and continue cooking over medium fire. Finally add the Hakka Rice Wine and Hua Tiao Jiu and allow the chicken to simmer and cook over a slow fire. Remember to close the lid. Once cooked serve with steam rice.

Bon Appetit!!

Posted in: Asian, braised, Chicken, Food, Ingredient, Local, Recipes Tagged: drunken sesame chicken, ginger, Hakka Rice Wine, olive oil, sesame seed oil, shao xing hua tiao jiu, 嘛醉鸡

Olive Fried Rice

September 14, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Olive Fried Rice

Just attended a healthy cooking workshop the other day and decided to put my learning into action. I am not the most healthy cooking cook around, so don’t judge me, I am only concerned for the taste of the dish.

Anyway the recipe calls for brown rice and basmati rice mix for a healthier choice, but seriously, who has that in their warchest? Unless you already are a health conscious person, you’re unlikely to stock up on these grains. The whole reason why I would even bother cooking this dish was because my MIL gave us a whole tub of cooked rice for us to steam and eat the next day. I decided that Olive Fried Rice was the better thing to do.

It’s the quite healthy version, so maybe you would like to try it for yourself or the family, my recipe cooks for two persons. My wife and I. I used Tuna Chunks instead of boiled Chicken Breasts fillets as most people would have used that, and instead of the usual Chinese Olives, I used Kalamata Olives from Greece, a little pricey, but totally worth it for the flavour.

Recipe

Ingredients

Half a bottle of Kalamata Olives (These are your deep purple, almond shaped olives from Greece, nice flavour, NTUC got sell)
3 stalks of Long Beans (Cut into 3 cm lengths)
Half a can of Tuna (I bought the one in olive oil, any brand will do)
2 cups of Cooked Rice (The rice is usually placed in the fridge so that the rice will be more Q <– don’t ask me what is Q)
3 cloves of Garlic (Crushed)
Half a Yellow Onion (Chopped finely)
Drizzle of Thai Fish Sauce
Handful of Cashew Nuts
Olive Oil

Method

1. Heat olive oil in non-stick wok/pan and stir fry the garlic and chopped onions until fragrant. Medium heat will do. Stir fry the cashew nuts together with the ingredients until slightly brown.

2. Mash half of the olives and rough chop the rest of the olives. Throw the olives in the wok and continue frying. Add the tuna chunks and continue to fry. If the oil not enough, add more oil (I know this is the part where it becomes less healthy, but if not enough oil, you need to add).

3. Add the chopped long beans into the wok to fry. Fry until the long beans are soften. Now add the cooked rice to fry together. Drizzle Thai Fish Sauce over the rice and fry until the fried rice is fragrant.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Family, Food, Ingredient, Local, Recipes, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged: fried rice, garlic, kalamata olives, long beans, olive fried rice, olive oil, thai fish sauce, tuna chunks

Stir Fry Xiao Bai Cai with Fried Tau Kee

September 4, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Stir Fry Xiao Bai Cai with Fried Tau Kee

My wife got this Xiao Bai Cai from the local vegetable seller and almost sworn by the product. I thought it was funny that she should be feeling this way about vegetable, I mean I usually don’t gush about my groceries. But I guess it was not without good reason. The Xiao Bai Cai that we usually get at the supermarket are usually quite sandy and would require a lot of soaking and washing.

For some reason the supplier didn’t want to disturb the plant so much after it was harvested, and so it was not washed or treated with anything (actually I am not sure if it was treated with anything or not). I always thought vegetables should be packed the same way after they are being harvested. But that said, there are different suppliers and also different ways to grow vegetables these days.

Maybe this Xiao Bai Cai was grown hydroponically at some local farm nearby my house? Anyway, we were both quite pleased with the vegetables as it meant less washing and scrubbing in between the stems and that we could quickly give it a good rinse and cut it up for frying.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 packet of Xiao Bai Cai
2 pieces of Fried Tau Kee (these usually comes with fish paste in between the layers)
3-4 cloves of Garlic (crushed not minced)
3-4 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce

Method

1. Wash and rinse Xiao Bai Cai thoroughly, making sure there is no sand or debris in between the stems. (Good habit to wash vegetables even though you know they were grown hydroponically. There could be worms or whatever creepy crawlies sometimes, so better to be safe.)

2. Chop them up into bite size pieces. This allows for easy cooking, and also easier to eat. (Of course, you would know that already.) Also, shred the Fried Tau Kee into thin strips.

3. Heat 3-4 tbsp of Olive Oil in the wok/pan. Make sure the oil is hot by turning up the heat to high. Fry the garlic pieces, giving them a quick stir to prevent the garlic from burning. Do this until the garlic pieces are fragrant and start to brown. Then add in the shredded Fried Tau Kee pieces. Fry until you smell the tau kee pieces (sorry don’t know how else better to explain this part). After that, reserve the garlic and fried tau kee pieces in a plate while you cook the vegetables.

4. You generally would want more oil so that the vegetables will cook better and not burn. So if need be, add more oil. (I say more oil because I like to fry my vegetables using high heat, and oil helps to prevent the vegetables from burning. I find that the vegetables cooks evenly that way, so that works for me. I know it is unhealthy to use so much oil.) 

5. Next with the remainder oil in the work, fry the stems first as these tend to take a while to cook, and once they are cooked, then add the rest of the vegetables in to continue to fry. Remember to do the pan flip method. Quickly drizzle the Thai Fish Sauce over the vegetables and continue to pan flip the vegetables. The searing sound of the vegetables burning along the sides of the pan would ensure that it is cooked evenly. (At least that’s how I would cook it. Sometimes stirring it with the wooden spatula doesn’t mix the vegetables or the sauce that well.)

6. After that, put the reserved ingredients (garlic and fried tau kee) and continue to do the pan flip method. Once you have mixed the ingredients well, cover the vegetables with the lid and allow it to steam for a few minutes. This would soften the vegetables and allow the fish sauce to mix in well. That’s it.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Family, Ingredient, Local, Recipes, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged: fried tau kee, garlic, olive oil, thai fish sauce, xiao bai cai

Sambal Kembong

August 27, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Sambal Kembong

I love Kembong Fish, and if there was a choice between Selar and Kembong, I would choose the latter. The flesh of the Kembong fish is sweet and delicious, much nicer than the Selar. Try it.

I love having the fish fried with a little oil and making diagonal cuts along the slides of the fish to fill its guts with freshly chopped red chillis that have been mixed with a sprinkle of sea salt.

I like it fried until it is crispy and crunchy when you bite into it and with a squish of lime – it is perfect. The confluence of salty, sour and spicy flavours mixed together just makes you want to munch the crispy fish head. The perfect dish to accompany any meal, especially porridge.

Recipe

Ingredients

Kembong Fish (a few will do actually, usually I am only cooking for me and my wife)
Red Chilli 2 pcs (chopped with a sprinkle of sea salt)
Sea Salt (just a sprinkle will do)
Calamansi Lime 2 Whole

Method

1. Wash the fish and remove the guts if you haven’t already. If you are not eating the fish on the same day, it is better to keep the guts of the fish in when buying the fish. This helps to keep it fresh longer.

2. Score the sides of the fish deep enough to create pockets to fill the sambal (aka chilli) paste.

3. Chop the red chillis until a fine paste. This paste I also call sambal. It’s a Malay word that means chilli? Sprinkle a little sea salt and give it a good mix with the spoon.

4. Fill the fish with the sambal paste and the fry it under medium heat in a frying pan. Make sure there is sufficient oil so that it can be crispy and crunchy when you bite it.

5. I usually use Olive oil or soya bean oil. The last thing you should be using is any vegetable oil that lists palm oil as its main ingredients. Palm oil is not healthy for you. So Olive or soya bean is best.

6. Serving suggestion: you may add a little bit of coriander leaves for colour, a drizzle of dark soya sauce if you want more flavour and a slight sweetness. Otherwise it is good just as it is.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Food, Ingredient, Local, Recipes, Seafood Tagged: calamansi lime, chilli, deep fried, fried, kembong fish, olive oil, red chilli, sambal, sea salt, Selar fish, soya bean oil

Home Made Pizza

June 2, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Home Made Pizza

I love pizzas, but for most restaurants that make this lovely piece of slightly leavened bread, do it for much profit. Expensive for run of the mill pizzas and anything premium can really break your budget.

And if you decide to make it yourself, then it suddenly becomes very affordable. The ingredients are so much cheaper and the best part about making the pizza yourself is you can make as many pizzas as you like. There is no additional cost.

I bought bread flour, instant yeast, tomato puree and some other ingredients and I was on my way to making my own pizza.

Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups of Bread Flour
7 grams of Instant Yeast
A cup of lukewarm water
Pinch of Salt
1 teaspoon of Castor Sugar
3 tbsp of Olive Oil
Tomato Sauce (pasta sauce)
A punnet of Cherry Tomatoes
A punnet of White Button Mushrooms
1 packet of Wild Rockets
Mixed Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheese

Method

1. Using a kitchen aid machine (if you don’t have one, get it!) and a hook fixture attached, mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt together. Turn on low speed. Combine the ingredients well. Add the water and continue to mix well until it is well mixed.

2. Remove the dough from the machine and knead it a little. Then place the dough into a bowl and add the oil. Cling wrap and allow the dough to rise a little. While it is being left to rise and allowing the yeast to work its magic.

3. While that is working, and rising, you can prepare the other ingredients. Slice the mushrooms, cut up the cherry tomatoes and wash the rocket leaves.

4. After you have prepared the ingredients, you can knead the dough and cut it into smaller dollups. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into whatever shape you like. (your pizza mah)

5. Spoon the tomato sauce (pasta sauce) onto the rolled out dough. Decorate it with sliced mushrooms, cherry tomato halves. Top the pizza with mix mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

6. Pre-heat the oven to a hot 230 degrees. Then bake the pizza for 10 minutes. After baking, the pizza bread should be slightly burnt and nicely roasted. Top the pizza with wild rockets and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Food, Ingredient, Italian, Local, Pasta, Recipes, Vegetables, Western Tagged: bread flour, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, pasta sauce, pizza, white button mushrooms

Pasta Pommodoro

May 17, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Pasta Pommodoro

If there is one thing that I enjoy more than rice is pasta. I would rather have pasta anytime of the day and they are great for that much needed quick meal.

So I was hungry the other day, and decided that I would whip up a very classic Pasta Pommodoro aka Tomato Pasta. Italian pastas are usually like that, singular and simple. Uncomplicated would be the other word that I would use when describing this particular pasta.

The main ingredient and star of the dish is none other than tomatoes. With a little help from the usual suspects like garlic and good quality olive oil, the end result is a very nice single flavour pasta.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 large Tomato (you can have more if you like)
150 grams Pasta (you can have any kind of pasta, but I used Barilla Farfelle.)
2-3 pieces of Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
A sprig of Thyme
A small can of Tomato Puree (Gilda brand has very tiny came of Tomato puree)

Method

1. Boil the pasta until al dente then reserve. In another pan, add 2 tbsp olive oil, add the minced garlic and stir fry until fragrant.

2. Then add the diced tomato and continue frying. Add some tomato paste or puree. Add a little water to dilute the sauce a little. Add the pasta into the pan. Combine the ingredients. Add the leaves of Thyme for flavour. Add salt to taste.

3. Once cooked serve with grated parmesan.

Bon Appetit!

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Pommodoro aka Tomatoes

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Pasta

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Thyme

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Pasta Pommodoro

Posted in: Asian, Food, Ingredient, Italian, Local, Pasta, Recipes, Vegetables Tagged: al dente, barilla farfelle, garlic, olive oil, Pasta Pommodoro, sea salt, tomato pasta

Wagyu Steak in Anchovy Butter

May 3, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Wagyu Steak in Anchovy Butter

Dinner time has been mostly steam fish this boiled vegetable that. So for tonight’s dinner, I am making a very simple wagyu steak in my favourite anchovy butter sauce.

I came across a rather large wagyu steak on offer at Cold Storage and knew at once that this was going to be a very nice dinner. It was on specials and honestly I couldn’t tell if it was any different from the normal priced wagyu steaks. So I got myself a whole slab. Yum.

The problem with steaks of any kind is usually the preparation of the meat. Cooking time is essential if not critical to the success of the dinner. You can fry up all the premium ingredients to complement the main, but if the doneness of the steak fails, you would have also failed miserably.

For the vegetables that accompanied the steak, I had stir fry Japanese button mushrooms, whole garlic cloves and white button mushrooms with boiled cherry tomatoes and baby potatoes. But what makes this steak really special is the anchovy butter sauce. So simple, just mix the anchovy with the butter in the pan with rosemary herbs and you have a very light butter sauce that works very well with the meat.

Recipe

Ingredients

Main
700-800 grams Wagyu Steak (if you’re not living near a specialty butcher, you could opt to order online Wagyu Kobe Steaks)
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Anchovy butter sauce
A small can of Anchovy in Olive Oil
20 grams of Unsalted Butter
A sprig of Rosemary (herb)

Assortment of Vegetables
A pack of Japanese Button Mushrooms
A punnet of White Button Mushrooms
A punnet of Red Cherry Tomatoes
6-7 cloves of Garlic
6 pieces Baby Potatoes
Olive Oil
Black Pepper

Method

1. Boil the baby potatoes in a small pot for about 10 minutes or until a skewer can pierce through. Once done, remove the potatoes and blanch the tomatoes for about 30 seconds. Then remove and arrange vegetabkes on serving plate.

2. In a wok, stir fry the Japanese mushrooms and mildly crushed garlic cloves in 2 tbsp Olive oil for about 2-3 minutes. Quart the white button mushrooms and add the whole lot into the same wok. Continue stir fry. Do this for another 5 minutes. Mushrooms shoukd either sear or shrink down in size. This is common as it loses water content. Once done, dish onto serving plates.

3. Sprinkle the steaks with sea salt and black pepper. In another pan, heat olive oil until smoking, then reduce heat to low. Place the steak into the pan and start pan-searing. 3 minutes on the first side and then another 2 minutes on the other side. Check doneness for medium rare. The meat centre should be a rose pink. If it is a dark red, then maybe you have to cook it a little longer.

The reason why I chose low heat as opposed to high heat is because I don’t want to over-cook the steak. So you have to time the steak strictly. Cut the middle to check for desired doneness. As the wagyu steak is very fatty, it is better to cook over low heat so that the fats will be tender. Once cooked to desired doneness, place it on serving plate.

4. In the same frying pan with the steak infused oil, add the butter and two fillets of anchovies. Break the anchovies and mash it into the butter. Throw in a sprig of Rosemary leaves. Cook until the sauce bubbles and spoon it into the steak. That’s it!

Pair it with a Cabernet Sauvignon or a spicy Shiraz.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Beef, Food, Ingredient, Japanese, Local, Potatoes, Recipes, Vegetables, Western Tagged: anchovy, baby potatoes, black pepper, butter, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, olive oil, sea salt, wagyu, wagyu kobe, wagyu steak, white button mushrooms

Fish Soup

April 25, 2015 by Ho Lang

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Fish Soup

My wife and I went to Putien restaurant for lunch the other day and we ordered their Fish Soup, simply because we love soup. It was then that I noticed that they had a very interesting take on the soup. They used a Yellow Croaker for the broth, which resulted in a light and mildly flavoured fish soup. Personally I thought it was so-so only.

It was oily, gingery but delicious, just that the fish flavour could be a little stronger and the fish itself could be a little tastier. My lightning fast taste-buds quickly deciphered the soup and memorized the ingredients list and reverse engineered the entire cooking process in my mind. So I decided to cook my version of that fish soup, but using my favourite Garoupa fish head. Sure nice one.

I stir fried the ginger slices and a few cloves of garlic. Then fried the fish head without any seasoning or salt. Just in the same oil. In another pot, I was boiling a natural chicken stock. Kind of got tired of the pre-made chicken stocko as I felt it was too salty. Added a few essential ingredients like wolfberries, Chinese scallops and dried oysters. Done.

The final product was a perfect fish soup. The flesh of the Red Garoupa was flavourful and tender, better in taste than the flesh of the Yellow Croaker.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 carcass of Chicken Bones (for making stock)
1 whole Red Garoupa fish head (small)
10 thin slices of Ginger
5 cloves of Garlic
Handful of Wolfberries
5 number of Chinese Scallops
3 number of Dried Oysters
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Optional

10 slices of Yam (pre-packed yam will do)
4 pieces of Tau Pok (aka dried bean curd puffs)

Method

1. Boil the chicken stock using the chicken bones. Skim off the fat and dried blood as you boil. Soak the scallops and oysters in hot water for about 10 minutes.

2. Fry the ginger slices in the oil until it starts to brown a little. Then take it out. Now fry the garlic whole (not minced) and then take it out when it browns.

3. Next fry up the fish in the same oil. Add a little more oil if need be. Once the fish starts to brown a little add the pre-fried ingredients of ginger and garlic back into the wok. Add the soaked scallops, soaked oysters and also the wolfberries.

4. Now you can ladle the natural chicken stock into the wok and continue to cook the fish soup over a slow simmer. Do this for about 10-15 minutes. Seafood cooks rather quickly especially fish. It is kind of like having steam boat. Add salt to taste.

5. If you want to add tau pok and yam slices, you may do so, and it will be perfect. But if not, it will still taste great!

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Food, Local, Recipes, Seafood, Soup Stock Tagged: dried Chinese scallops, dried oysters, fish soup, garlic, ginger, olive oil, red garoupa, sea salt, wolfberries

Anchovy Pasta (olive oil)

August 11, 2014 by Ho Lang

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Anchovy Pasta (olive oil)

This is a recipe that I learnt from my friend Andrew Lum. Simple, exotic and delicious. I finished all 170 grams of the spaghetti and my tummy is still rumbling. I think I must be very hungry, or the pasta is really yummy. I suspect it is the latter. Simple to prepare and great for gatherings, you can prepare this pasta in less than 15 minutes. Of course, you need to know what you are doing in order to meet the 15 minute timing. But no worries, can one.

The only problem I find with this particular recipe is the availability of the Anchovy. I use canned Anchovy from Cold Storage, and it seems that NTUC, even Finest, don’t really sell the preserved fish. They sell all kinds of Sardines, Tuna, but somehow I can’t seem to find the Anchovy. Ok, that said, maybe I didn’t try hard enough. Maybe I should also ask someone at the store? I admit that I am the if-I-can’t-find-it-at-the-store-it-is-likely-to-be-sold-out type of shopper. Either that or I don’t bother to ask. Okay, I am lazy.

Recipe

Ingredients

 

250 grams Barilla Spaghetti *cooks in 5 minutes – 2 servings*

1 can Anchovy Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (50 grams) *Waitrose brand from Cold Storage*

1 Egg *raw*

5 Chilli Padi *reduced the chillis if you can’t take the heat*

1 Punnet Cherry Tomatoes *sliced*

1 Box Sweet Basil leaves

Parmesan Cheese

 

Method

1. Boil a pot of water. Add oil and sea salt. How much depends on yourself. Add pasta in the pot once the water is boiling. Note the number of minutes that is needed to cook the pasta to al dente, this is usually indicated on the packaging of the Barilla Pasta box. If you want it a little softer, then you cook it a minute of two longer.

2. For some folks, they sometimes complain that the pasta noodles have an odd smell. I don’t have that problem. Maybe it might be a case of the quality of pasta? Who knows.

3. Once pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately add the raw egg, chilli padi and anchovies (mashed). Mix thoroughly, and allow the egg to coat the hot pasta. This will also partly cook the egg. The egg acts like a sauce in a way. Add sliced cherry tomatoes and sweet basil and give it a good mix.

4. Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Asian, Food, Noodles, Pasta, Recipes Tagged: anchovies, barilla, cherry tomatoes, chilli padi, olive oil, spaghetti, sweet basil

Boeuf Bourguignon

April 2, 2014 by Ho Lang

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Boeuf Bourguignon

“Boeuf bourguignon, French beef stew in red wine..” Says Julia Child, one of the most inspiring cooks (home cooks) that ever lived. She represents to me hope that anyone can take mastery of their kitchen and cook up awesome French cuisine from the comforts of their humble home.

Julia to me personifies French cooking for servant-less home cooks. A socially awkward lady yet adventurous and passionate in her craft, her example inspired many to try, fail and subsequently succeed in following her footsteps.

Maybe I might eventually do all the recipes that she has in her book. Well we shall see.

Julia Child – Boeuf Bourguignon

For this classic, I would usually take reference from her YouTube video and then make up as we go along. Some of the ingredients are not locally available but the spirit of Julia is always to make do with what you have.

I had fun making this dish my own, and I have been making it my own way for a while now and getting the same awesome results each time. I hope it will be the same experience for you as well. I don’t use the oven as the recipe calls for it, but I use a gas stove to cook the beef.

Recipe – serving for 4

Ingredients

Beef cubes (for making stew) 750 grams

Streaky bacon (ask for more fat) 50 grams

Garlic 10 wedges, 4 to minced, 6 to braise

Yellow onions (medium) 2 whole

Tomato paste 3 tablespoons

White button mushrooms 15 pieces

White onions (small) 15 bulbs

Carrots 2 whole

Thyme 5-6 sprigs

Bay leaf 2-3 leaves

Olive oil 2 tablespoons

Red wine 750 ml

Beef stock 4 cups

Salted butter 250 grams

 

Method

1. Add oil to a large pot. Heat till slightly smoking. Add sliced bacon to fry til crispy. This is to extract the fat from the bacon and saltiness.

2. Remove bacon and discard. Add beef cubes and sear beef till brown. The key is not to crowd the base of the pot or they won’t brown. Once done, remove from pot to allow the beef to rest.

3. Add minced garlic to pot and fry till fragrant. Then add chopped onions to fry until soft. Then add beef cubes into the pot. Now pour in the beef stock about 2 cups. Add the red wine about half a bottle. Add thyme, bay leaf, tomato paste and continue to stir. Add carrots, remaining garlic. Continue to cook at high heat.

4. In another pot fry the mushroom in salted butter and olive oil mixed. Fry until mushrooms are slightly brown. Reserve the mushroom aside and continue to cook the white onions in salted butter and olive oil. Cook until onions are soft.

5. Once the beef is sufficiently cooked and tender. Combine the mushrooms and onions together. Serve with baguette or steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

Posted in: Recipes Tagged: bay leaf, beef in red wine, beef stew, Boeuf bourguignon, carrots, french, herbs, Julia child, mushrooms, olive oil, onions, red wine, streaky bacon, the art of french cooking, thyme

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