Shrimp Paste Chicken Wings

Just because I've not posted any food photos, doesn't mean we've been eating out all the time. In fact now that my mum's living with us, we've been getting a lot of home cooked food & I really should share some of her dishes.

Funny that my first food post since arriving in Singapore would be Har Cheong Kai (shrimp paste chicken) well in this case chicken wings. I had a look at the photo on my other chicken wing post & to be honest, you wouldn't have known the difference - well you just have to take my word for it. These are Har Cheong Kai Yick.

These are easy to make if you can get hold of Lee Kum Kee's Fine Shrimp Sauce. If you're into deep frying chicken wings, then the trick is to add rice flour (my friend H gave me this tip some time back). It does make the wings nice & crispy. But I usually just roast them in the oven.

Again no recipe - just marinate the wings / chicken parts with chinese wine, pepper, 1-2 Tbsp of Lee Kum Kee's shrimp paste (not too much cos this stuff is salty) & sugar (to counter the saltiness of the shrimp sauce). Best overnight & then roast till brown. I've tried coating with rice flour when I roast but they don't turn out crispy like when you deep fry so I don't bother now.

Ma Po Tofu

Mapo Tofu is another perennial favorite of mine & is probably the first Chinese dish I ever attempted.

Last week I found myself with a packet of thawed minced pork & tofu in the fridge & I realised that it's been ages since I cooked this.

The only way to eat this is pour over white rice to let it soak up the goodness. Perfect for a cold winter day. Gawd I practically finished the dish all by myself.

Mapo Tofu
source Appetite for China

1 block soft tofu, drained and cut into cubes
3 tablespoons oil
350g ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, thinly sliced at an angle (or spring onions)
2 1/2 tablespoons chilli bean paste (since I didn't have chili bean paste, I used chilli oil)
1 tablespoon fermented black beans (& added 2 Tbsp of this instead)
2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper
1 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
Salt to taste
4 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons cold water (I used only half of this)

Optional garnish: 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions, or 1/2 teaspoon crushed roasted Sichuan peppercorn

1. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add pork and stir-fry until crispy. Reduce heat, then add garlic and leeks and stir-fry until fragrant. Add chili bean paste, black beans, and ground Sichuan pepper, and stir-fry for about 1 minute, until the oil is a rich red color.

2. Pour in the stock and stir well. Mix in the drained tofu gently by pushing the back of your ladle or wok scoop gently from the edges to the center of the wok or pan; don't stir or the tofu may break up.

3. Season with the sugar, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes, allowing the tofu to absorb the flavors of the sauce. Then add the cornstarch mixture in 2 or 3 stages, mixing well, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (Don't add more than you need).

4. Serve while still hot in a deep plate or wide bowl. Garnish with optional scallions or crushed Sichuan peppercorn.

Pomelo Salad

Until a few months ago, X has never tried pomelo. I was shocked. But then again, pomelos over here falls under the category of "Lucky if you can find it". Of the supermarkets & grocery stores I normally go to, only one seem to stock these on a regular basis.

It has already become our family favorite. We can easily finish one per meal. So it was a no-brainer that I make a salad with it. There seem to be many recipes out there for Yam Som-O - with coconut cream or dessicated coconut, with chicken etc.

None of the recipes, as authentic as they may be, appealed to me so I decided to just make it up as I go along. Shredding the pomelo took a long time because The Girl kept interrupting me for some. But other than it, this was really easy to put together. I wasn't particularly thrilled with this attempt although X gave a thumbs up. It may have to do with the fact that I ran out of limes & didn't use enough in the dressing. I wished it would have been more flavorful.

In case you're interested, here's what I toss with the pomelo - cooked shrimps (shells removed), lime juice, fish sauce, cut chilli, sugar, crushed roasted peanuts & dried shrimps.

Honey Tumeric Chicken Wings

Chicken wings & I go back a long way. For as long as I can remember, I love my wings. Doesn't really matter how they are done. One time, a friend bought several kilos of these babies, braised them & we ate every single one of them in front of TV watching Japanese serials (in the days when they were popular).

When I lived in New York, I always ate wings particularly buffalo wings when watching baseball / football. On top of that, there were restaurants selling nothing but chicken wings with different levels of spiciness. The spiciest are called, get this, atomic wings - that should give you an idea how spicy they are. I was in wings heaven.

One of my favorite ways is to eat them with Marie Sharp Habanero Pepper sauce.

I'm always on the watch out for new wings recipe so when Wrong Side of Thirty posted this, knew I had to try it. Recipe here. I didn't grill mine over the stove top tho'. I just roasted the whole bunch in the oven.

Because I like to torture myself

Photo credit : Adelyne

I know Chinese New Year is already over but I had to share these 2 photos. They were taken by my sister in law & are the only 2 of The Girl in her chinese cheongsam. Don't ask me why I didn't take any (bad maman). The rest are photos of our food fest in Singapore. I'm putting them up as a reminder of all the food I can't get here. You see I like torturing myself.

Aside from my mother's cooking (which unfortunately she doesn't do as much now), the next closest comfort food for me is the fare at Soup Restaurant - steamed yoke bang with salted egg, lotus root soup, steamed chicken. We went overboard, as usual & probably ordered every dish on the menu.


This was our reunion dinner cocktails. Lychee martini with pork floss chips (unfortunately I only brought one packet back from Phuket) & on the right, representing the West, olives stuffed with red peppers.

Our reunion dinner - Steamboat. Although we make shabu shabu often here, see that plate on the left, that's what we're missing in France - fish balls, beef balls, fresh enoki mushroom & tau pok.......
Tossing yu shang @ Taste Paradise. If you're looking for good Chinese food & don't feel like going to yet another Tung Lok or Crystal Jade restaurants, then I'd recommend checking this place out. The food is awesome & the service even better.

I really have been away for a long time cos I didn't realise that there were hip beach bars in Sentosa. The music at the Cafe del Mar was a little too loud for my taste but they have a pool which was great for The Girl to splash around. Why would the pool be useful since we are by the beach ? Have you seen the view from Sentosa ? The one of the many cargo ships docked just offshore. No thank you very much, I ain't dipping my toes in there especially after I'd just enjoyed beautiful clear waters in Phuket.

This is what a vacation is all about
Champagne at lunch


My best friend's mum makes a mean popiah & I always try to get myself invited to her popiah parties. The deluxe version with chunky crab meat & whole prawns.

This was a new discovery this trip. We stumbled on this sichuan restaurant in Chinatown that serves what I consider rather authentic sichuan food that is hard to come by in Singapore. My favorite starter dish - ox tongue & tripe in spicy pepper sauce is really good (which I forgot to take a picture of). But I did take a picture of this interestingly presented boiled pork belly.

This was a delicious plate of dried beef hidden amongst the mounds of red pepper.

The very famous River Valley Nasi Padang - the one where their recipes are stored in a safe. It's good but I couldn't figure out what the fuss was all about.

That's it for now, are you drooling yet ?

911 on Rice

Rice - every Asian's favorite carb.

Although I own a rice cooker, I hardly ever use it except for making sushi rice. Most times, I cook rice, as I've been doing for years, in a pot. I know exactly how long it takes so I don't ever burn the rice unless I intentionally want that to happen.

The reason I cook rice in a pot is because I'm too lazy to clean another appliance but mostly because I like the crust. When we were kids, my grandmother would pour hot water into the pot of leftover rice & we would fight over who gets to eat the crust.

Burnt rice is excellent when accompanied with soup. I usually burn my rice for shabu shabu or whenever I prepare chinese soups. For those who have not tried this, go burn your rice today & you won't regret it.

I decided to do this post on rice because what I take for granted about rice is not apparent to most. By most, I refer to non Asian & non regular rice eating folks. It came as a big surprise to my friend Gaby when she found me washing rice one day.

I've been doing it forever & so did my mother & my grandmother & her mother before her, we do it without ever questioning if it's really necessary. I wash my rice about 4-5 times till the water runs clear. I told Gaby the reason is to clean the grains & to remove extra starch.

Even then, I wasn't thoroughly convinced & so decided to do some research online & came up with the real reason here.

I was also asked what type to use for fried rice. Leftover rice kept in the fridge over night is perfect. The grains are drier & thus don't clump together as much when frying.

Here's wishing all my Chinese readers
a very Happy & Prosperous Year of the Ox !!

Chicken Tikka Masala

As much as I like Indian food, I realise that I don't cook it often. Although I'm personally partial towards South Indian food, it's easier to find North Indian restaurants any where you go & without fail, I would order chicken tikka masala.

I've been hoarding several recipes from the internet for chicken tikka masala but when I saw Lotus of East meets West post - I knew I had to try her version. It was so good I made it twice in one week.

It's a pity curry is not very photogenic but trust me, this is really delicious. I love the bright orange colour & the flavours. Once you've made this at home, you'll probably never need to order this in a restaurant again. Here's Lotus recipe which I've reproduced - I didn't & wouldn't make a single change to it.

Chicken Tikka Masala
source East meets West

Chicken Tikka :

500g Chicken filet cut into bite-sized pieces and marinated overnight with
Ginger powder or minced fresh Ginger
Ground Cumin
Cround Cinnamon
Ground Chilli
Ground Turmeric
Ground Coriander
Ground Pepper
Ground Paprika
Salt
Lime Juice
1 cup Yoghurt

The Gravy :
Butter
Onion
Garlic
Ground Cumin
Ground Coriander
Ground Paprika
Garam Masala
Fresh Chilli
250ml Tomato Purée
Diced Tomatoes
250ml Cream (e.g. Crème Fraîche, Mascapone, Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
Fresh Coriander leaves

It's great grilling the Tikka on a BBQ during BBQ season and then using the leftovers for a Tikka Masala. In colder months, one can cook the meat in an oven or like me when I'm lazy, just cook it till it's nicely browned in some butter on my heavy grill or non-stick wok.

If using the last solution, remove the browned meat pieces and set aside. Using the same butter left in the wok, brown the diced onion and minced garlic till fragrant. Add in the ground spices and stir fry for a minute or 2, then stir in the diced tomatoes (fresh or tinned) followed by the tomato purée. Stir and mix well with the spices, then add in the cream. Lower the heat and simmer till the sauce thickens, stirring from time to time.

10 minutes before serving, add the grilled Chicken Tikka into the sauce. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with buttered Basmati rice, naan or chapati.

Braised Pork Belly

Thanks to my friend Helena, I made this delicious braised pork belly. It takes 2 hours to braise but well worth the effort. The meat is flavorful & tender. Even though it would have been better to eat with mantou, French baguette is not a bad second choice.

X gobbled up every last bit & has already requested that I make this again.

This was great for eating out on the site. What site ? What is she talking about ? Well stay tuned for tomorrow's post when I'll explain further.

Wanting Wontons

A must have in my freezer are wontons. Okay, so I know there are lots of stuff in my freezer but none as crucial to me as wontons. I suppose if you know how much I love my noodles, you'd probably understand why there must always be some in the freezer.

Last week, I finished the last of the wontons & it was time to make new ones. Back in May, I posted that I had a make-your-own-wonton-party with my neighbour Laurence but had forgotten to take any pictures. This time round I didn't make the same mistake.

I use store bought wonton skins which I buy in abandon whenever I find any. I once entertained the thought of making my own but it's too much hassle cos they all have to be cut in squares & must be fairly thin which I probably won't be good at doing. Thick wonton skins is just buerk.

If only shrimps were not so expensive, I would be tempted to make all shrimp wontons like they do in HK. For now, I use half meat & half shrimp. The recipe makes about 60 so halve that if you don't want to make so many.

Wonton Filling - Just mix the following together

700g minced pork
700g shrimp (remove heads, shell & tails then diced)
12 water chestnuts, diced
1 egg
light soy sauce
oyster sauce
chinese wine
sesame oil
corn starch
salt & pepper



I'm not going to show you step by step how to wrap one cos I couldn't wrap & take pictures at the same time. But I did find this site which has 8 different styles of wrapping wontons. I think mine is either style 5 or 6.

The 60+ wontons I made should last me for at least 3 months, I hope.

Perfect for the cold weather
A simple bowl of wonton noodle soup

Teriyaki Pork Chop with linguine

Being away from home & away from food that I crave for, I make do with substitutes or learn to make my own. This has turned out to be a good thing cos very often I've found that it's not as difficult as it seems.

This is one of those examples. If I were back in Singapore, I'd probably be buying expensive bottles of teriyaki sauce or maybe why bother, just hop into any of the many Japanese restaurants & order this.

But teriyaki sauce is really easy to do it yourself. I usually do this with deboned chicken leg but since I had some pork chops in the freezer, I decided to use those up instead. For a change instead of serving it with rice, why not change it up & serve it with pasta. You know I like to walk on the wild side.....

Teriyaki Pork Chop with Linguine

For the sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
2 Tbsp sugar

4 pork chops
linguine

1. Put all the ingredients of the sauce in a small pan, bring to a boil then simmer

2. Take 2 Tbsp to marinate the pork chops & set aside for half an hour

3. Fry the pork chops in medium heat until done

4. Turn up the heat & pour the rest of the sauce into the pan. It should start to carmelise. Coat the pork chops with the sauce

5. When done, sprinkle sesame seeds & serve over linguine

Salmon Rice

Due to bad judgement on my part, I was left with quite a lot of sushi rice after our lunch on Saturday. I could make more sushi & the internet suggested making tempura sushi rolls using left over rice but I wanted something different.

So what I did was to fry the left over piece of salmon, mash it up, mix it together with the rice. Serve with sprinkling of bonito flakes & strips of seaweed.

A delicious way to use up left over sushi rice.

Tempura Shrimp

When making shrimp tempura, I could never get it to be straight like those served in the restaurants. They curl up almost immediately I put them to deep fry.

Internet to the rescue - I googled & this is what I came up with.

Remove the shell leaving the tail intact. You can also remove the vein but when making tempura shrimp I don't do it cos you'll see why later. Besides the vein is not harmful & you can bet when eating in restaurants, they don't remove it either.

Cut small slits across the belly of the shrimp making sure to not cut through the shrimp. If I cut the back to remove the vein then this gets a little tricky.

I usually make 4 slits even for a medium size shrimp. I used to do only 3 & it doesn't seem to work as well. More for bigger shrimps.

Next turn them around & press down lightly to straighten them up.

When done, make your tempura batter & heat up enough oil for deep frying. Once the oil is hot enough (drop a little batter into the oil & if it comes up immediately, it's ready), dip the shrimp into the batter & deep fry.

It should come up looking nice & straight like this.


Other than serving it as a tempura dish with tempura vegetables etc , we also like to use it in sushi rolls. Which is another reason why you would want it straight.

Steamed meat patty

This really should have been included in my earlier Cantonese food post.

Steamed meat patty or yoke bang is the quintessential Cantonese dish but you wouldn't find this in fancy Cantonese restaurants cos this is what our mother's cook at home. This is what I grew up eating. My mother even used the same stainless steel plates that you see in the picture.

She usually steams the salted fish separately on top of the meat patty with slices of ginger but I kind of prefer it done this way.

Steamed meat patty

Ingredients
350g minced pork
5-6 water chestnuts
half onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
salted fish, diced
sesame oil
soy sauce
salt & pepper

1. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl & mix well

2. Place in a shallow tray & steam until meat is cooked. Served with rice

Revealing my Cantonese roots

Although Singapore is the place I call home, it's not where I was born. When I was 5, my parents uprooted & moved the family & their business from Hong Kong. We used to make regular trips back there to visit family & friends, of which I have very hazy memories of.

Then in order to get to know the place that I was born, I decided to go work in Hong Kong for a while & ended up being there for 9 years. Which may help to explain why Cantonese food will always hold a special place in my heart.

This past week, I was craving for Cantonese & got busy in the kitchen preparing some of my favorites.

I always look forward to eating Lor Bak Go (Radish Cake) when I'm at a dimsum restaurant. I particularly like the steam ones that come in bowl - flavor is the same as fried radish cake except the texture is smoother & melts in your mouth. I have yet to attempt that at home.

I made the regular Lor Bak Go but Hong Kong style of course, with lots of lup cheong (chinese sausage), dried shrimps & chinese mushrooms. This freezes very well which is why I always make extras so that when craving strikes, I just need to defrost & fry them up.

Lor Bak Go

600g radish grate finely
125 ml water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
5 chinese mushrooms, diced
1 lap cheong (chinese sausage), diced
handful of dried shrimps, soaked in water then diced

Mix together
250g rice flour
625ml water
salt

1. Drain radish, put in pan with 125ml of water, salt, sugar & pepper. Cook over medium heat until most of the water has evaporated

2. Pour the rice flour mixture into the pan & mix well

3. On a separate pan, fry sausages, dried shrimps & mushrooms. When done, add to the radish batter

4. Mix everything thoroughly & keep stirring until the mixture becomes a thick paste. Add more salt if necessary

5. Transfer to an oiled pan & steam for 30-40 minutes till done (poke with a chopstick, if it comes up clean, it's done)

6. Cool thoroughly before cutting

Note : I use a round cake pan for my lor bak goh. You can also use a longer & deeper dish but would probably have to steam it longer.

Yet another dish that has the classic Cantonese lup cheong, chinese mushrooms & dried shrimps. Lor Mai Fun or Glutinous Rice. I'm embarrassed to admit how much of this I can eat at one go.

In a previous entry, I had used this as stuffing for quail which you can find the recipe here. I would normally also add diced chicken - just fry it together with the mushrooms & lup cheong.

Memories of Taipei

My blogging friends all seem to be making tea eggs which got me all nostalgic so it wasn't long before I had to make a batch too. You see, tea eggs reminds me of Taipei. In another lifetime, I used to go there a lot for work - try every other week for 3 years. So I know that city very well. These tea eggs just remind me so much of my days spent in Taipei. Every where you turn in the city, there is a whiff of these eggs. All the 7-11s have a pot of them stewing in a corner.

I eat them the way the Taiwanese do - with a dipping of pepper salt. Like the Dutchess, I made 10 of them & thankfully The Girl likes them too else I would have had to eat them all by myself & trust me, I could.

You're gonna love this

For the uninitiated, ikan bilis is what we call anchovies where I come from. It's normally eaten as a snack or fried with sambal as a side dish with nasi lemak (steamed rice with coconut).

If you've been deep frying ikan bilis, well I'm going to teach you a new oil-free way. I learnt this from a mum at a forum I frequent & I've not looked back since.

First of all, wash & rinse the ikan bilis. Lay them out on a microwavable plate - just enough to cover the plate without over crowding. Put on high for 1.5 minutes. Remove & stir them around a little bit. Put them back in for another 1.5 minutes & repeat until they are crispy. It usually takes me in total between 3- 4 minutes for each batch.

So much better. No oil, no messy splashes & healthier too.


When done, you just need to store them in an air tight container. I'm not sure how long it can keep cos I never have to worry about it, it doesn't last very long in our family.


I usually eat them just like this or with a squeeze of lime & cut chilli or of course, as sambal ikan billi (which I will post another time). How do you like to eat them ?

Spicy Miso Ramen with Char Siew

I've talked about how I love noodles. If I had to name my top 10 dishes, I'm sure it would contain a couple of noodles dishes & one of them would have to be ramen. I don't remember when my love affair for ramen started. Maybe after I watched Tampopo.

To me, nothing says comfort food like a steaming bowl of ramen. I used to frequent this tiny ramen place in NY called Rai Rai Ken for my fix. When I'm in Tokyo & have my way, I would probably be eating ramen everyday. Whenever I'm in Paris, I must head over to Rue St Anne to any one of the many ramen joints.

Again, it's one of those things I've never thought to prepare it myself. The thought of making the broth seems daunting enough. Rasa Malaysia made it here and after drooling for a long time over the delicious bowl of ramen (I click back occasionally just to drool & my photos pale in comparison), I decided to give it a go.

It turned out really well. I was so ramen-deprived that I ate 2 bowls. What a pig ! The broth was surprisingly good - don't leave out the sesame seeds - it makes the soup so much more fragrant. I had a small piece of char siew left over so I added that in. I also added bamboo shoots cos that's my favorite although I didn't marinade them, which I will do the next time. The Japanese fish cake I bought in Geneva for the sole purpose of putting in my ramen.

Spicy Miso Ramen
source Rasa Malaysia
makes 2 bowls

Ingredients

Ramen noodles
4 cups of water
4 Tbsp white miso paste
3-4 Tbsp chilli oil (optional if you don't want it spicy)
1/2 tsp dashi stock
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds (pound with mortar & pestle till fine)
Light soy sauce, to taste

Toppings :
hard boiled eggs, in half
corn kernels
Japanese fish cake, sliced
spring onion, sliced
nori seaweed. cut into strips
char siew, sliced
pickled bamboo shoots

1. Bring water to boil & then add miso paste, dashi stock & finely ground sesame seeds. Boil & reduce to 3.5 cups. Add in chilli oil & light soy sauce

2. Prepare noodles & set aside

3. In a serving bowl, add the noodles & then place your choice of toppings. Pour the miso soup into the bowl & add the seaweed strips. Serve steaming hot

We love Shabu Shabu

So there we were having dinner one night & it suddenly occurred to me that I've not introduced our #1 favorite dish - shabu shabu. We have it at least 2-3 times a month. I grabbed the camera & started taking pictures of our food right there at the dining table. That was a first. I usually take pictures of the food before it reaches the table & not in the midst of eating.


I know shabu shabu is usually done with thin slices of beef. Well try finding that here ! Initially I was even desperate enough to try it with beef carpaccio but it doesn't work cos there is no fat in the beef & it's just not the same. Then I found a better solution - bacon. Strips of bacon works beautifully in shabu shabu plus you don't have to worry about over cooking. And of course, we have the usual like chinese cabbage, onions, shitake or enoki mushrooms & tofu.

But the most important thing is of course the dipping sauce. The sesame sauce & the ponzu sauce. I couldn't eat shabu shabu without either of these sauces. The Girl likes it so much, you can give her anything dipped in those & she will eat it. Just to proof to you how much we love our shabu shabu - when I was in Geneva, I bought a 1.5L bottle of the sesame sauce (it costs more than a bottle of sake).

We always end the meal by pouring the soup & the rest of the sauce.....on the remaining rice. Delish !