Culinary Adventures: Sunday Breakfast

You know what's funny about living and eating in Singapore? We've got fads coming up out of nowhere throughout the year. One minute it's ice-cream parlours, next minute it's the resurgence of bubble tea and currently, you have these overpriced all-day breakfast places sprouting up around the island.

Highly unadvisable if you're on a diet.

So anyway, here's my own take on the whole all-day breakfast thingy, the excuse being my own attempt at learning to poach an egg. It's not as tricky as it sounds, all you need is some deftness in handling a floating egg in a pot. I've read a few online recipes and checked out my MtAOFC (Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child) and through my own experiment, I've come to the conclusion that you need to constantly stir the water to get it right. Oh yes, and make sure your eggs are at least relatively fresh from the fridge (no more than 4-5 days) cos the less fresh it is, the more likely it is to split into strands when cooking.

Poached Eggs

3 poached eggs

Water in a saucepan (filled up to about 6 cm)

1 tbsp vinegar

1.5 tsp salt

Directions

Boil the water in medium-low heat with the vinegar and salt till simmering. If the heat is too high and the water ends up boiling, take it off the flame for a few seconds to let it cool down. Using a whisk, stir the water in one direction briskly to create a mini whirlpool. Crack one egg into a saucer and whilst the water is still moving, quickly slide the egg into the middle of the vortex. Let the egg cook for about 2 to 2 and half minutes. For a beautifully poached egg, the egg white actually hardens and forms a thick layer around the egg yolk. Quickly remove the egg with a large ladle (be careful not to break the yolk) and immediately transfer into a bowl of room-temperature water to stop the cooking. Carefully remove the egg onto a plate lined with paper towels to dry off.

To reheat the egg, simply slide the egg for a few seconds into a bowl of hot water for a few seconds.

Serve on top of toast with salad, sausages, bacon, mushrooms, anything tasty!

Culinary Adventures: Lasagna and Chocolate Lava Cake

It's Singapore's birthday today so if you're Singaporean and reading this...HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!

Was kind of in a red and white festive mood today and decided to attempt making lasagna(ok so lasagna isn't exactly red and white!). I have to say that the ingredients weren't cheap plus it's a lot of work for just one dish! Not only do you have to first cook the minced beef with the gravy, there's also the bechamel sauce you need to make so that it has that creamy texture on the overall(but I omitted it in this instance as I was a bit lazy). The box on the lasagna pasta mentioned that there was no need to precook the pasta but to be honest, I think it would've turned out much better even if it had been parboiled a bit before popping into the oven to bake.

So anyway, here are the pictures from today's culinary experiment.

It was SL's birthday as well two days ago and I decided to make chocolate lava cake for her. The thing about chocolate lava cake is that it's actually extremely easy to make (you don't even need a mixer!) and it's really all about underbaking it to perfect timing. Was rather pleased with the overall results and served with vanilla ice-cream and raspberries, it was really yummy!

  

Culinary Adventures: Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli)

Ok folks, we're on a roll. Today we are trying to recreate another favorite dish of mine, Bun Thit Nuong, otherwise known as Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli. This is a common cold noodle dish found in most Vietnamese restaurants and what I really like about it is the burst of fresh flavour when you mix it all up with the accompanying Nuoc Mam sauce. Make sure the pork is marinated 24hrs before for best results.

I adapted this from a few websites I've come across. 

Serves 4
Ingredients:
300 g pork shoulder butt, sliced (choose meat cuts with some fat)
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp dark caramel sauce
1 tsp honey
2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 stalk chopped lemongrass
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 shallots, chopped
3 tsp pepper
Sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

Pickled Carrots & Daikon
1 carrot (julienned)
1 white radish (julienned)
200 ml rice vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Nuoc Mam Sauce
6 limes
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 clove chopped garlic
A bit of julienned carrot and daikon

1/2 packet bun kho (bought the vermicelli from Vietnam a few months back, not sure where you can find it here but I reckon our normal vermicelli ain't too bad)
Lettuce, washed and chopped
Cilantro
Mint, chopped
Crushed peanuts
Fried shallots

To prepare the pickled carrots, heat the rice vinegar in a pot. Stir in sugar and salt till it dissolves. Leave to cool. Place julienned carrots and daikon into a jar, pour vinegar over, cover and leave to chill for at least 2 hours.

Slice the pork into thin slices. Marinate with the seasoning overnight.

Boil the bun in hot water for about 5 minutes or till cooked. Run under cool water and set aside.

The pork is best grilled but I stir-fried it in a pan. Assemble all of the above, first the noodles below, then the lettuce, cooked pork and pickled carrots. Garnish with the mint, fried shallots,cilantro and nuts. Douse with Nuoc Mam sauce and mix it all up.

Ta-dah!

Culinary Adventures: Kung Po Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

I'm not a big fan of fusion food but one dish that's got me fascinated many years ago is the Kung Po Spaghetti from California Pizza Kitchen. I mean, it's not like rocket science, combining one of China's greatest Szechuan dishes with a western noodle(which technically originated from China anyway) but there's something about this robustly flavored slippery noodle combined with the crunchy nuts and tender chicken cubes soaked in a hot tangy sauce that's really best eaten fresh from the wok.

So here's today's adaptation after referring to a few websites for the recipe. With some trial and error, I've added a few seasoning ingredients of my own so I guess this ranks as an original!

(Btw, there are prepared versions of Kung Po sauces out there by certain brands but to be honest, some are rather dodgy in taste. So like the true culinary professional that I am *roll eyes*, I've decided to make mine from scratch instead.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

150g chicken, sliced into cubes

8 medium prawns (or 5 large prawns, sliced into 2)

About 1/2-2/3 a packet of spaghetti (any other kind of pasta like fusilli or macaroni would probably work as well but quantities may vary)

Garlic (sliced into thin pieces)

Ginger (sliced into thin pieces)

Dried chilli pieces (comes in a packet, soak about 5 chilis in hot water, deseed and cut into 1 cm pieces)

2 tbsp of peanuts

Marinade:

1 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp rice wine

Sauce:

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 1/2 tbsp dark caramel sauce

1 1/2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 1/2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp honey (optional)

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice wine

2/3 cup water

and 1 tsp cornflour(with about 1 tbsp of water to thicken)

Boil the spaghetti in a pot of water with 1 tsp of salt for about 10 minutes or till al dente. Remove and wash in tap water. 

Marinade the chicken for about 30 minutes. Heat up about 2 tbsp of oil in the wok, stir fry the chicken till it still looks slightly pink (about 70% cooked) and remove from wok. Heat up another 2 tbsp of oil, fry the garlic and ginger for under a minute, then add in the dried chili pieces. Fry for another minute then add in the chicken. Stir-fry a bit, add in the prawns, then add in the seasoning. Add in the thickened cornflour and let simmer for about 1 minute. 

Add in the peanuts and coat with sauce. Then add the prepared spaghetti into the sauce and using a pair of large chopsticks(or BBQ tongs), stir the noodles around till it gets evenly coated. Add more soya sauce/vinegar to taste if necessary. 

So the dish doesn't taste exactly like CPK's but the sauce actually tastes closer to the real Szechuan dish than that one does. And according to the folks and the helper who said it was "VERY NAAICE!", I suppose it's a pass. :P

Culinary Adventures: Creamed Crab & Corn Croquettes

When the going gets tough, the tough gets cookin'.

So it's been a long hiatus since the last entry, but to my tiny audience out there(if you're still around), it's been a crazy year with me balancing work on top of my piano practices and lessons(yes I am a geriatric music student). Anyway, I've been getting down to some serious cooking the last couple of days (made 4 dishes in total..Bibimbap, Japanese Carbonara Pasta, Gyoza and the abovementioned) and I'm not surprised if I've already put on a few pounds from these experiments.

Sigh, the sacrifices I have to make in pursuit of culinary excellence.

I kind of adapted this recipe from another blog and runnyrunny999's video (look for him on Youtube, his cooking videos are awesome).

Makes 4-5 Croquettes

Ingredients:
6 crabsticks, finely chopped
1/4 can corn kernels
3 tbsp flour
40 g butter
~150ml milk
salt and pepper to taste

1 egg, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 tbsp flour

First, make the bechamel sauce. Over low heat, melt the butter. Add the flour in 3-4 batches, stirring till it becomes an even paste each time. Add the milk in 3-4 batches, stirring in each time. Do not let it overburn! The sauce is ready when it looks like thick batter. Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in the chopped crabsticks and corn kernels. Stir the mixture. On a flat pan, spread out the mixture and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Take out from freezer, cut out from the tray in equal portions using a knife. Take each crab portion, roll into a ball, coat in flour, then eggwash, and then breadcrumbs. Then deepfry over low heat for about 5 minutes, till it becomes golden brown.

And there you have it, creamy crab and corn croquettes! This snack can be found in many places in Japan, and one of my favourite restaurants CocoIchiban serves it with curry rice. Yummy!