Sunday, 23rd September 2007

So I finally gave up my fear and trade it in for a Fagor Express 6-qt Pressure Cooker. I have heard horror stories of how they 'explode' from my mum...haha... so I grew up with this huge resistance to using a pressure cooker. Many of my friends have told me about the benefits of cooking with a pressure cooker. Ken wanted me to get one so that I can cook in a fraction of the time and also his colleague told him that the meat falls off the bone...blah blah blah...

Anyways, here was our first attempt at using it. Notice the 'our' in the former sentence. Haha... I prepared all the ingredients and insisted that he does the actual cooking cause of my worry of the 'explosion'. :p We used it to cook 肉骨茶, which cooked in about 20 mins. Could have taken a shorter time but we were too cautious and used the lower heat and the dish took a long time to boil. zzz.... haha but the result was amazing. The meat really fall of the ribs, and it was soft and the soup was flavourful. But we got a scare, or rather me, when we released the pressure and the thing went hissing... haha... I have to use to cook dinner later. Wish me luck!

Ken's Birthday - Saturday, 22nd September 2007

We had lunch at Miss Saigon, which is a Vietnamese Restaurant. The food is nice and the price is pretty reasonable for us to eat out here. We enjoyed the lunch very much.

We always said we wanted to try out this restaurant. We practically lived next to it on our 1st trip here. So we thought we would probably try all the restaurants near our old place on this trip. The food was nice and not at all salty, which is kinda hard to find here.

Makan Time - Friday, 21st September 2007

We had Nasi Lemak for lunch... with the coconut rice, fried ikan billis, fried egg, fried wings and fried cabbage, accompanied by homemade Nasi Lemak Sweet Chilli.

As tomorrow is Ken's birthday, I baked Pandan Chiffon Cup Cakes. The attempt was not so great as I failed to adapt the baking temperature and time to cup cakes, I followed the instruction for the regular-sized cake. But it tasted good, so all was not in vain after all.

卤肉 for Lunch

Here's what we had for lunch

卤肉

Lady's Finger with Heh Bi Hiam

Today's Menu

Breakfast

• Cantaloupe (Rock Melon)
• Dan Active (something like Yakult, but more like yogurt drink)
• Milk

Lunch

• 生面

Dinner

• Salad

生面

Not too sure if the chinese characters are correct. Hmm, but here is how I did my version of it for our lunch + his dinner today.

生面 (3 Servings)

Ingredients :

• Half pack of Chow Mein
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Vegetable of your choice (washed and cut into serving size, separate stem and leaves)
• Carrots (sliced thinly)
• Medium-sized Shrimp (about 10)
• Chicken Breast
• Imitation Crab Meat (shredded or sliced)
• Button Mushroom (sliced)
• Baby Corn (sliced into half)
• Fresh Scallops (a handful)
• Fishball or Fishcake (sliced) * Optional Item
• Some starch dissolved in cool water
  
  

Method :

(A) Noodles :

1. Heat oil in wok. When thoroughly heated, take a small portion of the raw noodles and put in wok while 'loosening' it.
2. Once noodles turn brown and feels crispy (use your spatula and test), remove and place on a plate with kitchen towels to soak up any excess oil.
3. Repeat for the total portion that you wish to consume. I used half of the bag for 3 servings. Leave the fried noodles aside for later use.

(B) Brooth :

1. Wash and clean chicken breast. Cut into 4 portions.
2. Wash and devein shrimps. You may choose to leave the shrimp whole.
3. Heat about 2 cups of water in a saucepan. I usually use organic chicken brooth (without MSG) which is really light to replace the water.
4. Once the water starts to boil, add in the chicken breast.
5. Once the chicken breast is thoroughly cooked, remove and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred it and leave aside for use later.
6. Add in the shrimps and remove once they are cooked. Leave aside for later use.
7. Leave the brooth aside for later use as well.

(C) Gravy :

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir fry until fragant.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients one by one (except the vege leeaves), according to what you deemed the cooking time for each will take. Add the ingredient which takes the longest time to cook first. Eg, carrots first, then vege stem.
3. Once all the remaining ingredients are somewhat cooked in the pan, add the brooth (B) and let it simmer. Once simmer add in the starch solution, the vege leaves, the cooked shrimp (B) and shreded chicken breast (B).
4. Once the vege leaves cooked, stir just a bit to mix all the ingredients, not too much or the gravy will turn watery and not thick.
5. Once done, just pour the desired amount of gravy into each serving of the fried noodles (A). You may like to serve it with homemade balachan chilli. (recipe also available on this blog)

Chilli 虾米

After I did the "Balachan Chilli", I proceeded with the "Chilli 虾米" a.k.a. "Heh Bi Hiam".

"Chilli 虾米" a.k.a. "Heh Bi Hiam"

Ingredients :

• Minced Dried Shrimp
• Garlic
• Sugar
• Balachan Chilli
• Olive Oil

Method :

1. Heat oil. Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
2. Add the minced dried shrimp and add some sugar. (Cause the dried shrimp can be quite salty depending on how long you have soaked it to soften it before mincing). Stir fry until fragrant and a bit brown.
3. Then add the balachan chilli. Fry until dry, a bit brown and fragrant.
4. As with the chilli, let it cool before storing. Pack into separate containers for freezer, fridge or office. Always use a clean spoon to take out the portion you need to prevent pre-mature spoiling.